Sweet Adventure
by Ruby1235
Summary: After the successful Nara party, Sakura and Shikamaru embark on a new adventure of being in a relationship, and the challenges and successes the two will go through along the way. Surrounding their relationship adventure is a darker cloud that seems to follow Sakura around, and will be a test that both Sakura and Shikamaru have to get through to keep their love. (SAKUXSHIKA)
1. In A Relationship

**A/N: SEQUEL TIME! I am so excited to share this sequel with you all, I've been working on it's concept for a long time, and I am excited to see it finally written out. I hope you all enjoy! If you are a first time reader of mine, be sure to check out my fanfic _Sweet Serendipity_ before you read this one! **

**July 13th**

* * *

"This is so… bizarre." Was the first thing Sakura said, as she fell back on the couch. Her eyes taking in the atmosphere of her apartment, and how weird it felt to be back.

"What's bizarre?" Hinata questioned, sitting on the other couch with Tank half on her lap, and Baby sitting right behind her head on the top of the couch. "You've been back in your apartment for a week now."

"Correction, I moved back in a week ago," Sakura shot back, grunting as Shadow jumped up on the couch to lay on top of her. "I got a mission within 10 minutes of officially being back here, and I just got back yesterday. Then you and I proceeded to get blackout drunk, so yesterday doesn't really count either."

Laughing lightly, Hinata reached up behind her head to pet Baby. "I guess I can't argue with that… Since your back in the village, are you going to go see a certain someone?"

At Hinata's very obvious hint, Sakura rolled her eyes and focused on petting Shadow, but her thoughts were on Shikamaru. "I would love to if it weren't for the fact that he is somewhere in the middle of the Land of Rivers on a mission. He apparently left on the mission just an hour before I got back yesterday."

"Oh, bad timing then," Hinata said, having to move her hand quickly away from Baby who decided she wanted to now attack the hand that was petting her. "Well at least Kankuro's going to be here in an hour, and you two can hangout."

"I can't wait, I can already picture all the trouble we're going to get in!" Sakura hollered, causing both her dogs to jump up and start barking. Grinning at the chaos she was causing, Sakura jumped up, and pointed to Hinata. "I'm still hungover, so we need to go get something with a lot of nutrients in it. I need to be in perfect condition for when-"

"Kankuro gets here and you get blackout drunk all over again," Hinata interrupted, causing them both to laugh. When their laughter subsided, she stood up and grabbed her bag. "Okay, let's go. I have to meet my team to train in an hour-ish."

"You said that an hour ago."

"Well I guess I'll be an hour late then..." Hinata trailed off, and paused at the door of Sakura's apartment. "You're such a bad influence."

"I know and you love me for it!" Sakura exclaimed, happily skipping out the door.

 **The next afternoon, two o'clock**

"The mission went smoothly then?"

"About as smooth as an escort mission can go." Was Shikamaru's less than interested reply.

"Shikamaru," his mother's voice was heard, as she and her father entered the Hokage's office. "Is that how you think you should speak to the Hokage?"

"What did I say wrong?" Shikamaru countered, then he shook his head. "Actually, what are you two even doing here? This is a team mission brief. My team, not yours."

"Just dropping off the last of the paperwork to the Hokage," Shikaku replied before his clearly irritated wife could. "We finished clean up for the festival yesterday, and this is the last thing we needed to do."

"Don't let us interrupt you." Yoshino added, her arms crossed over her chest, and eyes narrowed at her son.

Sighing at already being on his mother's bad side within twenty minutes of being back in the village, Shikamaru focused back on the Hokage. "I understand that Asuma has other responsibilities now that Kurenai is pregnant, but am I going to be put in charge everytime he has another commitment from now on?"

Tsunade hummed lowly in thought. "Well you are the only jounin other than Asuma on the team, but I guess I could let Ino or Choji takeover the next time."

"Yes! I've always wanted to lead a mission!" Choji exclaimed excitedly, his usual bag of chips in his hand.

"Oh please," Ino started, a smirk on her face and a hand propped on her hip. "If anything, it would be me that is put in charge."

While that started an argument between the two, Shikamaru sighed heavily and slapped a hand to his forehead. "Nevermind."

That made Tsunade start laughing just as a knock on the door was heard. "Come in-"

"Tsunade! I've had enough!" Was the first thing Shizune exclaimed as she walked in before Tsunade could finish speaking.

"Shizune, can this wait a moment?" Tsunade countered, her hand motioning to the others in the room. "I've got two things I need to get done here, and then I can be all yours."

"You need to stop that, and focus on the real problem," Shizune then pointed back to the still open door. "You need to talk to her, yell at her, whatever! She's getting on my last damn nerve!"

The sound of footsteps was heard just before Sakura appeared in the open doorway, a laid back smile on her face. "Well I have had much better announcements to me entering a room," she said, as that made the others laugh. Her eyes found Shikamaru, and her smile widened. She walked into the room, and stopped beside him. Her eyes twinkling, as a smile appeared on his face too. "When did you get back- hey! Shizune!"

Shizune taking her by the hand, and pulling her over to Tsunade's desk was what had interrupted Sakura. "Whoa thanks for the warning Shizune-"

"You need to do something Tsunade," Shizune interrupted Sakura again. "She's literally been a pain in the ass since she arrived to work at the hospital this morning."

"Literally." Sakura repeated, a big smile on her face, as she found this clearly amusing.

Tsunade had to cough to hide her smile at the sight of Shizune's glare. "I thought Sakura was taking the day off."

"We were short staffed today. The only reason Sakura was planning to take the day off is because she had plans to go out and get a drink with Kankuro last night," Shizune said, before propping a hand on her hip. "Which I might add was a hell of a lot more than a drink as she came into the hospital extremely hungover this morning."

"Ha, you call that extremely hungover? You should have seen me yesterday morning after Hinata and I went out-"

"I don't care about yesterday morning Sakura! I care about this morning!" Shizune exclaimed irritably.

"Can we not even bring my hungover self this morning into this?" Sakura asked, her hand going to rub her head. "It's not like it's that big of a deal. I haven't seen Kankuro since-"

"A week ago at the festival." Shizune interrupted, an eyebrow raised at Sakura.

"Really?" Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "I felt like it was a bit longer than that."

Shizune's glare darkened, as she steamed angrily.

"Actually, since we're talking about the festival," Ino said, her eyes on Sakura and Shikamaru. "Let's talk about what happened at the ball between you two."

"Can we not?" Both Sakura and Shikamaru chorused, making both them share a smirk.

"Well I'd like to know more too." Yoshino added in agreement with Ino. "I mean I think we all knew something was going on, but that was the first time you two actually confirmed anything."

"Actually," Shikaku said, his eyes on his wife. "That wasn't the first time they kissed. It was actually the day of the festival, the day after the opening party we had."

"What?!" Both Ino and Yoshino exclaimed.

Sakura's laughter kept them from saying anything else, and it took her a moment to get to where she could speak. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's actually not true. The first time we kissed was the night before we left the winery."

"I knew it!" Yoshino exclaimed, then a look from her husband made her sigh. "Okay, I didn't know it, but I had a feeling that something like that happened."

"What's this about the winery?" Tsunade asked curiously.

"Tsunade!" Shizune exclaimed before anyone else could speak. "Can we focus back on the issue here?"

At Shizune pointing directly at her again, Sakura smiled and gave a wave in their direction. "That's me, the issue."

"You're not funny," Shizune shot back with a glare in her eyes. "When she came into to start working, she clocked in, but didn't see any patients until almost one o'clock today. She stayed at the main desk, doing nothing for four hours as there was a waiting room full of patients."

Sakura shrugged when Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her. "For the record, I don't think it was wise of me to see patients until after I was in a better mind set."

"That didn't stop you when you started seeing patients." Shizune retorted.

"Oh my god, that isn't fair. The guy had the coolest looking broken arm ever Shizune. How was I supposed to just let someone else have him?" Sakura countered, her eyes lighting up at how that made Tsunade laugh.

However, Tsunade's laughter was cut short at Shizune's glare. She had to cover her mouth and turn her head away to compose herself. When she finally did, her eyes went back to Sakura. "Okay, clearly Shizune wants me to do something about your work ethic today, and as I have known Shizune a lot longer than I have you, I have to oblige."

"Tsunade that's not-"

Tsunade held up a hand to stop Sakura. "So, I figure the best thing I can say to you is... to run like hell."

"Wait! What?!" Shizune exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Sakura didn't waste anytime, as she took off, laughing all the way. Making the others in the room laugh too.

Shizune glared at Tsunade. "What was that?"

"She planned to have the day off from the hospital for a reason Shizune," Tsunade shrugged her shoulders. "It's not really fair to punish her when she basically gave warning that it wouldn't be a good idea to have her work today."

"You only agree with her, because she is taking after your habits of drinking." Shizune shot back, still irritated.

Sighing at that, Tsunade still kept her smirk on her face. "I've taught her a lot of things Shizune, and the only one you ever bring up is alcohol."

 **A few hours later**

"Okay you two, that's enough barking!" Sakura had to raise her voice to be heard over the dogs. Getting the pot of pasta off the stove, she moved over to the sink. "You can come in!"

It was quiet for a moment as the dogs had stopped barking, then the front door opened. Once again stirring up a few barks from Shadow and Tank, as Shikamaru walked into her apartment. The dogs went right to him in order to greet him and get some attention. "What if I was a murderer, and you just told me to come in without looking to see who it was first?"

"Okay one, don't joke about that. The last time I lived here someone did come into my apartment and try to kill me," Sakura said with a laugh. "Two, I was busy draining the pasta, so priorities."

"Right, what was I thinking? Pasta is way more important than safety."

Laughing along with Shikamaru, Sakura nodded, and went back to stir the sauce. "Plus I knew it was you. I don't let just anyone in my house."

That had Shikamaru smiling as he finished petting Shadow and Tank and moved across the living room, then to the kitchen to get to her where he wrapped his arms around her waist. A feeling that he was still new to him, but familiar and nice at the same time. He kissed the top of her bare shoulder. "I'm special then?"

Sakura smiled, as she turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. Her eyes meeting his. "Yeah I guess."

"You guess?" Shikamaru chuckled, leaning his head down slightly, then kissed her lips. Pulling back after a moment, he smirked. "That's it."

"What?"

"I've been wondering what I've been missing this past week that we haven't seen each other," Shikamaru replied, his smirk still on his face as he tucked her bangs back behind her ear. "Come to find out it was this."

When Shikamaru kissed her again, Sakura smiled into their kiss. After they broke it, she focused back on stirring the spaghetti sauce. "Well there's a lot more where that came from."

Almost half an hour later they were just finishing up eating dinner. They had chose to eat over on the couches, Shikamaru on one, and Sakura on the other. However, after she finished eating, she had slid down to the floor to pet Shadow. Her focus was on Shikamaru as they discussed everything that had gone on over the last week that they missed. "So, that was really fun today at the Hokage's office. Ino looked so pissed when she found out how long she didn't know about what happened at the winery."

"I'm glad you enjoyed that," Shikamaru said, shaking his head and smirking at Sakura's laughter. When her laughter subsided, he began to realize something. "You know, I never actually asked you if you wanted to be in a relationship in the first place. We never really talked. It's just after what happened that it just kind of went to this. It-

"Shikamaru do you want to be with me?" Sakura interrupted him. Grabbing her wine glass to take a sip.

Taken aback by Sakura's question, Shikamaru stared back at her in silence. Finally he rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, so I have to admit. This is the first time I'm doing this, as I haven't exactly really wanted to date anyone before."

"Is that a no?" Sakura countered, smiling over the rim of her wine glass.

"Sakura," Shikamaru replied at her joke, shaking his head before reaching over and taking her free hand. "Do you want to be in a relationship with me?"

That had Sakura smiling ear to ear for a long moment, as she looked down at her his hand holding hers. Her smile widening as she looked back at him. "You're cute."

At her lack of clear response, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so for the first go around of this whole dating thing, I get a response that doesn't even slightly answer my question- what are you doing?"

Sakura had moved down to crawl under the coffee table. Just barely able to fit as Shadow was really close to her side, and Tank was on the other side of the coffee table by Shikamaru's feet. Once over there, she reached up to rest a hand on Shikamaru's leg to help sit herself up on her knees. Leaning over she kissed Shikamaru. A smile appearing on her face after they broke the kiss. "Yes I want to be in a relationship with you."

Finally it was Shikamaru's turn to smile as he leaned over and kissed her. Taking a break after a moment, he smiled as they remained close. Taking in how her smile lightened up the room almost. "You're cute." He told her after a moment, then he kissed her again. This time his arms went around her to keep her close, as their kisses grew heated.

 **The next morning**

The sound of the dogs barking had Sakura opening her eyes. Propping herself up on her elbows, Sakura looked over to see both Shadow and Tank were off the bed, and seemed to be fighting over a toy. Laughter hitting her ears, had her focus change to her other side. "Being woken up by very loud barking is funny to you?"

"No, but you are," Shikamaru said, chuckling more as he reached over to flatten some of her tousled hair down. "You were dead asleep, and then all of a sudden you sat up like you did. I tried to wake you up three other times, but all it took was your dogs barking to do it."

A smile formed on Sakura's face, as she relaxed back onto her pillow. "What can I say? Sometimes I'm a light sleeper, and other times I can sleep through a war."

Once again, Shikamaru laughed as he moved closer to her, and he kissed her. "Well let's hope there aren't any life or death situations happening while your asleep then."

"Oh, just bring a cup of hot coffee to me, and the smell of that will always do the trick." Sakura shot back, smiling as they kissed again. Feeling a little heat grow in their kisses, Sakura moved so she was more on top of him. The sound of her dogs barking starting up again brought them to an abrupt stop, as Sakura pulled back a little.

"Perfect timing." Shikamaru joked, as he chuckled at the dogs behavior.

"Yeah," Sakura shot back with a smile, moving off of Shikamaru to the other side of the bed. Picking up the closest article of clothing off the floor that resembled a shirt, she slipped it on, and sighed as the dogs rushed over to her. Full of energy, and ready to go outside. "Okay boys, I'm getting up."

Shikamaru remained laying back against the pillows after she left the room to let the dogs out. His arms back behind his head, and he waited for Sakura to return after she let the dogs out then back inside. When she did return almost ten minutes later, he sat up. "I probably should be getting up. I have to turn in the written mission report to Tsunade today."

That brought a smile to Sakura's face, as she began to collect her clothes from the floor. "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to actually write that first in order to turn it in."

"I'll have you know that I did start it yesterday," Shikamaru shot back, moving to grab his boxers from the floor. "Then I came over here, and obviously all plans of finishing it last night went out the door. So, I have to go finish that report, and more importantly change into clothes that I wasn't wearing yesterday."

"I'm jealous," Sakura started, turning to face her vanity mirror to try to smooth down some of her ruffled hair. "While you're doing that, I'm going to be here, doing absolutely nothing."

Smirking at her words, Shikamaru took a pause in getting dressed, as he watched her. "Maybe I'll come back and join you after I'm done."

Shrugging her shoulders, Sakura continued messing with her hair. "I'll be here all day. My team went on a mission yesterday. The only reason why I got out of it was because Kankuro was already here, and I was already pretty wasted by the time they got around to needing to start the mission."

Shikamaru chuckled at that. "Before I left to come over here yesterday, my parents asked if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight. My mom told me it's because she missed having you in the house, but I'm pretty sure it's mostly because she wants to question the status of our relationship."

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure it is mostly because she misses me, because I'm such an amazing person."

"Sure, that's it," Shikamaru shot back, smirking at the sight of her sticking out her tongue at him through the reflection of her vanity mirror. His eyes moved down to the shirt she was wearing, then further down to her legs. "I'm going to be needing that back."

Raising an eyebrow, Sakura turned to face him, as she pulled at the edge of the shirt. "This?"

Nodding slowly, Shikamaru forced his eyes to look away from her legs, and back to her face. "That or I'd be walking through the village shirtless."

Humming lowly, Sakura smirked at she turned to the bathroom. "I don't really see a problem with that," she entered the bathroom, and a moment later tossed his shirt out to him. "There you go. I have to take a shower, so I guess I'll see you later."

Hearing the sound of the shower turning on, Shikamaru remained sitting on her bed. His eyes going from the slightly ajar bathroom door, and his shirt that had landed on the corner of her bed. Without much more though, he stood up, and moved to take his boxers and shorts off again. Then he crossed the room to the bathroom door.

 **A half hour later**

Finishing up pouring coffee in her mug, Sakura added the creamer, then took a long drink of it. Sighing with satisfaction after a few more sips, she moved over to scratch Baby behind the ears. Her damp hair caused her to feel the heat from her coffee a bit more.

"Okay..." Shikamaru's voice was heard, then he appeared from the small hall her bedroom was off of. His hair was still down and wet, and he was pulling a hair tie from his pocket. "I really need to go now."

Sakura was smiling over the brim of her coffee mug, as she raised an eyebrow in his direction. "You said that half an hour ago."

Smirking at her words, Shikamaru finished putting his hair up, and moved over to her. Placing his hands on either side of her on the countertop. His face an inch from hers. "Yeah, well you seem to have made me late."

"As I recall," Sakura started, a mischievous smile on her face. "You weren't objecting."

Smirking, Shikamaru shook his head and kissed her. "No I was not," he said, then he kissed her a few more times. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"I can't wait for our awesome plans of relaxing, and doing absolutely nothing."

"I can't either." Shikamaru agreed, a smile forming on his face before he kissed her again.

 **Shikamaru's house**

"Look who's home." Was the first thing Shikamaru was greeted to when he entered his house by his mother. His eyes moved over to see his mom drinking her coffee in the kitchen, and his dad sitting on one of the bar stools reading the paper.

"Late night?"

"Dad-"

"Look, your father is just stating the fact that you didn't come home last night Shikamaru." Yoshino interrupted him, as she waved off his protest.

Shikamaru was quiet for a long moment, as he felt the eyes of his parents on him. Finally, he sighed and shook his head with frustration. "Troublesome," he mumbled, as he kicked off his shoes. The sound of his dad's laughter hit his ears, and he could see the smile on his mom's face. He turned to walk down the hallway his bedroom was off of. "Don't make a big deal about it."

 **Later that evening**

"Well we weren't exactly trying to broadcast our relationship," Sakura said, finishing off her wine, as dinner was coming to an end. "We just didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"However, for some reason, it's a big deal to Ino, because she wouldn't stop talking about being the last to know." Shikamaru added, as he started collecting dishes to bring into the kitchen.

"I don't blame Ino for questioning," Yoshino replied as they all moved into the kitchen, before she and her husband moved to sit on the bar stools. "You two may not see it as a big deal, but most people do."

"But, it is their choice if they want to be more public with it." Shikaku reminded his wife, a smirk on his face at her shaking her head with a scowl on her face.

Shikamaru, who was taking dishes from Sakura to put into the dishwasher, chuckled. "Thanks for being on my side for once dad, I really appreciate it."

"Well, it's not like it matters now," Sakura said, refilling her wine glass after Yoshino offered the bottle to her. "Everyone already knows, and now hopefully they'll not be so dramatic about it now."

Smirking at that, Shikamaru closed the dishwasher and started it up, then he focused on Sakura. "If only it would be that easy."

"Ha ha," Yoshino shot back, shaking her head at the others laughter. When their laughter died down, her focus went back to her son. "So have you asked about this weekend yet?"

At Shikamaru's hesitation, Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "What about this weekend?"

Chuckling, Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I was going to ask yesterday, but obviously that didn't happen. I wanted to know if you wanted to go camping with us."

"Camping?" Sakura repeated slowly with a raised eyebrow. "You don't really seem like the going camping type of person Shikamaru."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Sakura, who now had a big smile on her face, shrugged as she leaned back against the counter. "Nothing."

Noticing her smile widening, Shikamaru shook his head back at her. "Not nothing. You have that look on your face."

Sakura laughed, as she shrugged. "I just don't picture you going camping to be quite honest."

"I go camping," Shikamaru told her, noting it made her laugh, he continued. "I'm serious."

"I know, I'm sorry."

As Sakura continued to laugh, Shikamaru finally smirked. "Do you want to go or not?"

"When exactly is this happening?"

"We're leaving in a couple days, on Friday," Yoshino replied to Sakura before her son could. "We'll be gone from Friday to Wednesday of next week. So it's a little bit longer than the weekend."

"Also, my side of the family usually goes on the camping trip with us, but we'll have different campsites." Shikaku added.

Humming lowly, Sakura was quiet for a moment, then she met Shikamaru's eyes again."You have a habit of not telling me about things until last minute."

Shikamaru smirked back at her. "I thought you liked be spontaneous."

"Okay, well there is a difference between being spontaneous, and forgetting to tell me about something until last minute," Sakura said, smirking right back at him. "Regardless, I'd love to go. I think it'll be fun. I'll see if Hinata can watch my furbabies for me… I'm sorry, I just can't stop thinking about the idea of you going camping. It's so unexpected."

"No it's not," Shikamaru replied, shaking his head, and reaching over to poke her side. Producing a squeak, and causing her to jump and slap his hand away. Her glare caused him to start laughing. "This is going to be a fun trip."

* * *

 **A/N: I am so excited to start the sequel for Sweet Serendipity. I loved writing that story so much, and I am ready to continue Sakura and Shikamaru's story. What do you all think will happen on this camping trip they are about to go on? Also what was your favorite scene of the chapter?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**

 **Also be sure to check out my blog: ruby1235fanfiction. blogspot .com (no spaces)**


	2. Nara Family Camping Trip

**A/N: Since it's been a while since Sweet Serendipity, I wanted to give everyone a refresher on Shikamaru's family members.**

 **-Grandparents(Shikaku's parents) – Senji and Keiko**

 **-Uncle and Aunt – Suno (Shikaku's Brother) and Azami(his wife)**

 **-Cousin – Shinji (Suno and Azami's son) and his wife Akara, and their baby Kazumi**

 **-Aunt and Uncle – Sumiko (Shikaku's sister) and Abari (her husband)**

 **-Cousins – Yoshio (eldest), Ronin, Seina(youngest) all Sumiko and Abari's kids**

 _Review:_

 _Shikamaru smirked back at her. "I thought you liked be spontaneous."_

" _Okay, well there is a difference between being spontaneous, and forgetting to tell me about something until last minute," Sakura said, smirking right back at him. "Regardless, I'd love to go. I think it'll be fun. I'll see if Hinata can watch my furbabies for me… I'm sorry, I just can't stop thinking about the idea of you going camping. It's so unexpected."_

" _No it's not," Shikamaru replied, shaking his head, and reaching over to poke her side. Producing a squeak, and causing her to jump and slap his hand away. Her glare caused him to start laughing. "This is going to be a fun trip."_

* * *

 **A couple days later, July 17th**

"You should go ahead and wake her up."

"I don't think so."

"Shikamaru," his mother shot back, a hand propped on her hip. "We're leaving in less than an hour, and we need everyone to be ready to go by then."

Shikaku's chuckling stopped Yoshino from saying anything more. His eyes focused on their son, a smirk on his face. "I'm sensing a little fear at the idea of having to go that woman up from you son."

"It's not that," Shikamaru started immedieatly shaking his head, however, a frown grew on his face, then he sighed heavily. "Okay, I have to admit that it's not exactly something I'm looking forward to. She's not really a morning person- well she is. Just when she wants to be. Not when other people want her to be."

While that had Shikaku laughing, Yoshino just smiled, as she sat down on the L-shaped couch with her coffee. "You're not a morning person either Shikamaru, and I have no trouble getting you up."

"That's completely different," Shikamaru grumbled, rolling his eyes at his father's continued laughter, as he stood up. "Fine, if I don't come back in five minutes-"

"You'll be fine, now go!"

Turning away from his parents, Shikamaru walked down the hall his bedroom was off of. Late last night, Sakura dropped her pets off at Hinata's, and spent the night over here since they were having to leave this morning. Walking into his room, he flipped on the light, and his eyes went to his bed. All he could see was a little bit of pink hair, and the rest of Sakura was buried under his comforter and pillows. "Time to get up."

It took a moment, but a low groan finally came from Sakura. She barely moved her head so she could peek over the comforter, saw Shikamaru, then rolled away from him. "Go away."

Smirking at her grumpy tone, Shikamaru stopped beside the bed, and crossed his arms. "Sakura, get up-"

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Then would you please get up? We have to leave at 10."

"I'll consider it."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means 'go away'."

"No, not until-"

Shikamaru was interrupted as he had to dodge a pillow that Sakura threw at him. He chuckled at her immediate return back to hiding under his pillows and comforter, as he returned the thrown pillow back to his bed. "You're really cranky this morning."

Another grumble and pillow being thrown at his head later, Shikamaru walked out of his room chuckling. Returning a few minutes later with a coffee mug in hand. Stopping beside the bed, he held it closer to her. "I've got a present. Just how you like it."

The smell of the coffee must have hit Sakura quickly, as she immediately moved to sit up and accept the coffee mug from him.

Shikamaru crossed his arms over his chest, as he watched her take a long drink of coffee. "I don't know why I didn't just do that to begin with. You seem a lot less hostile… Are you getting up now?"

Instead of responding, Sakura took another long drink of coffee. After another moment, she sighed and smiled. "Coffee."

 **A few hours later, three o'clock**

Stopping at the edge of the campsite, Sakura took in the area. It was located in a small camp ground off one of the massive lakes in the far north of the Land of Fire. The campsite itself was pretty large, and was spaced out well from other campsites. There was a picnic table, a grill, and a fire pit. _Oh I'm going to enjoy this._ She moved over to the railing that lined the top of a small slope that led down to the lake. The sun shined off the top of the water, and the sound of silence made her smile. "This is so peaceful."

"I know," Yoshino agreed, as she stopped beside Sakura. "It's nice to get away from the busy village."

After taking another moment to take in the beauty of the nature around them, Sakura turned to Shikamaru, who had started setting out the parts to the tent they would be sharing. Walking over, she helped him take out the rest of the parts to the tent.

"Let's run through the instructions, and then we can-"

"Nah, let's skip them. It'll just take up unnecessary time." Sakura interrupted Shikamaru, as she picked up some of the folded rods.

"We should read the instructions," Shikamaru shook his head, as he opened the instructions up. "It'll prevent any problems-" The sound of movement from Sakura had him pause, and he glanced over to see she had already laid the tent out and put the now connected rods through the slots.

"If you are done telling me to 'read the instructions', can you come help me finish up putting the tent up?" Sakura asked, winking at Shikamaru as his parents laughter was heard from where they were setting up their tent across the campsite.

Shikamaru hardly paid his parents laughter attention, as he raised an eyebrow at Sakura. Kneeling down on the opposite side of the tent, his eyes met hers. "You've done this before."

They got the first rod in place, before going to the second one. "I've been camping before. It's not my first time pitching a tent like this."

It wasn't until the tent was up that Shikamaru walked back over to the front where Sakura was. "You just don't strike me as the camping type of person."

"Well neither did you when you first asked me to go," Sakura replied, unzipping the tent. It was fairly spacious on the inside. She could stand mostly up inside of it.

"Fair enough." Shikamaru replied, moving over to the entrance of the tent. He watched as Sakura unzipped the covers on the screen portion the other side of the tent to air it out. After setting their stuff in the tent, his eyes moved to the front of the campsite when he heard voices. The sound of voices got his attention, and his eyes moved over to see his extended family had arrived.

"Shikamaru!" His mom called over, motioning for him to come over.

Sakura stepped out of the tent, and walked with Shikamaru over to his family. A smile on her face, as all eyes seemed to gravitate to her as they were both greeted.

"It's so nice to see you again Sakura." Sumiko said after the initial greetings were done.

"It's nice to see you all again too. I hope I'm not crashing this whole family camping trip-"

"Oh no of course you aren't," Azami interrupted, a big smile on her face. "After what happened at the end of the festival at the ball, it's not too surprising to see you here."

With the eyes of his relatives now on him, Shikamaru chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah this is kind of a thing now, I guess."

Sakura grinned at how he phrased that, as she crossed her arms. "I feel so special."

"Okay, well you were the one to call our relationship a "thing" to Hinata last night when we dropped your pets off at her place," Shikamaru countered, although his expression softened, as he wrapped an arm around her. He gently kissed her forehead. "And you are special."

While that made his aunts 'aw", Shikamaru sighed, and shook his head. However, before he could say anything, Sakura gasping was heard. Shinji and Akara walked up not far behind the others, and Akara was holding Kazumi.

"Sorry, Kazumi was a little fussy not getting enough attention while we were putting up our tent, and it took a minute to settle her down again." Akara said, as they stopped by the others.

Stepping closer, Sakura smiled big at the baby. "Hello cuteness."

"So, did mom and dad make it down to the south coast alright?" Shikaku asked, his eyes on his sister.

"Yeah, their cruise starts tomorrow, and they'll be gone the entire week." Sumiko replied, here attention more focused on Kazumi than her brother.

"Well we still have some unpacking to do," Suno said, motioning in the direction of the lake. "We already rented boats when we first got here. We thought two would be good for this years trip, as our family seems to be getting a little big for just one."

That brought some laughter from Shikaku and the others. "We have to unpack here as well, so we can meet you all down at the boats in about an hour."

With that decided, the others turned to go back to their own campsites, and Sakura and Shikamaru's immediate family went back to their tents. Once inside the tent, Sakura and Shikamaru began to layout their sleeping bags. When Sakura finished up laying her stuff out, she sat down, and combed through her hair. "I'm excited to go on the boat. I haven't been on one in a long time."

"Me too." Shikamaru sat down on his sleeping bag, and his eyes moved over to Sakura. She was pulling her hair up in a bun on the top of her head. Watching her for a moment longer, a smile grew on his face.

Realizing Shikamaru was looking at her and smiling, Sakura paused. "What?"

"Nothing."

"No, not nothing. You're looking at me."

"I can't look at you?"

Finishing up with her bun, Sakura dropped her arms down, and frowned in Shikamaru's direction. Not saying a word, as she raised an eyebrow.

Her look had Shikamaru chuckling. Leaning over, he stopped a few inches from her face, and smirked at her holding her frown. Waiting a moment, he watched her expression soften, then he kissed her. When their kiss broke, he smiled. "You look beautiful."

At the compliment, Sakura's cheeks grew a little warm, and she quickly tried turned her head to look out the screen portion of the back of their tent "That's not why you were looking at me."

"It was too," Shikamaru replied, reaching over to turn her head back to face him so he could kiss her again. "I was just thinking about how nice it is that we are going to be able to spend the next four and a half days together, and there is no work involved."

That seemed to finally bring a smile to Sakura's face. "I think you might be more excited about the not working factor."

Shikamaru was quiet for a moment, before he grinned. "Maybe a little."

Laughing at his honesty, Sakura moved to get up out of the tent. "Come on, let's go down to the lake. I want to check out the boats before everyone gets down there."

 **Three hours later, 6 o'clock**

Once close enough back to land, Shikamaru and his cousin, Shinji jumped off the boat to pull it the rest of the way, and tied it off on a tree. He offered a hand to both his mom as she got off the boat, then smirked as Sakura was laughing as she got to the front of the boat to get off.

"That was really fun," Sakura said, taking Shikamaru's hand and jumping off the front of the boat. "Especially the part where I got to drive."

"Really? Because I thought that was the most terrifying." Shikamaru joked back, grinning at how that made her roll her eyes. His focus went to the second boat coming in. It had his aunt Sumiko, her husband, and their kids on it. He and Shinji helped guide the boat to a stop, then they tied it up as well.

"How was tubing?" Yoshino asked, as Sumiko got off the boat shortly after her kids, who took off running back up to the campsite.

"It was great, the kids enjoyed it, and Abari and I got to enjoy them finally getting along for more than just ten minutes," Sumiko replied with a laugh. "I'm ready to get started on dinner though. The short lunch we had just before we got up here a few hours ago isn't cutting it."

As everyone else started walking back up to the campsite, Shikamaru and Sakura remained. Sakura eying the tube on the other boat. "We totally have to go do that tomorrow. That was probably so much fun."

"I'm more of a peaceful boat ride kind of guy," Shikamaru replied, as they started down the side of the lake. "I'll leave the tubing up to you."

"Oh come on Shikamaru, it would be so much fun!"

Humming lowly, Shikamaru finally gave in and smirked. "I might try it once-"

"Yay!" Sakura exclaimed, jumping around a little as she laughed.

Taking her hand to keep her from going into the water with her shoes on, Shikamaru shook his head and chuckled at her excitement. "I know you're just wearing flip flops, but I'm sure you don't want to be walking on wet shoes."

"Probably not," Sakura laughed as they continued walking on hand in hand. Her eyes admiring the view they had of the lake and all the forest around them. "This place is so beautiful. I can't believe this is the first time I've ever been here."

"I thought you said your family grew up going camping?" Shikamaru asked, an eyebrow raised.

"We did, the place we went to is south of the Leaf village," Sakura said, tucking her bangs back behind her ear after the wind blew them in her face. "However, we also spent time way up north in the Land of Rivers. My parents have a cabin up there- well really most of my extended family on my dad's side has cabin's up there. But they are all on a property that my great grandfather owned, and they are built around this really pretty lake. I know it's not exactly camping, but that was where we also spent a lot of time."

Smiling at the sight of the happiness in her eyes as she talked, Shikamaru leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Well maybe we should put both of those places on our bucket list of places we need to go."

"That along with this really amazing bar just outside the Sand village-"

"Of course," Shikamaru said, laughing at Sakura's grin. "I don't think you grew up going there with your family."

"Well not exactly, but I have a lot of great memories with my siblings there..." Sakura trailed off as she stopped to pick up a bird's feather. She admired it, then her eyes went to Shikamaru, a smile on her face. "I-"

"Shikamaru! Sakura!" The sound of Yoshino's voice interrupted Sakura.

"There goes my relaxing time." Shikamaru grumbled, although his eyebrow raised at Sakura's laughter.

"Come on Shikamaru," Sakura said, taking his hand again, and moving them in the direction to walk back towards the campsite. "We're here to spend time with your family too."

Shikamaru smirked back at her. "Really? Because I was under the impression that you and I would spend the whole week together."

Sakura shook her head and laughed. "We'll have plenty of time to spend just the two of us. Just not right now."

"Shikamaru! Sakura!" Yoshino's voice called again.

"We're coming mom!" Shikamaru called back, then his eyes went back to Sakura. "Spending time with my family it is."

 **An hour later**

"Are you going to eat soon?"

"Yes Shikamaru," Sakura said, smiling at baby Kazumi, who she was currently holding. "I'm just giving Akara and Shinji a chance to eat and relax for a moment."

Shikamaru slid his hands in his pocket, as he watched Sakura with Kazumi. "Right, well you sit here and be an amazing babysitter, I'm going to go ahead and roast our hot dogs."

"That would be great, thank you," Sakura said, leaning over so she could kiss him. When she pulled back, she had a twinkle in her eye. "I am pretty amazing, aren't I?"

Chuckling at that, Shikamaru kissed her again. "Yeah I guess so."

"Hey!" Sakura exclaimed, laughing as Shikamaru turned to walk back over to the table with the food on it. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

It was nearly fifteen minutes later, she had gave baby Kazumi back to Shinji, and was now seated by the fire pit with Shikamaru. The other women and the kids were taking a walk to the bath house to use the bathroom. Leaving just the men, Kazumi and Sakura at the campsite. Sakura's focus went away from the others, and to Shikamaru. "Thanks for making my plate for me."

"You're welcome," Shikamaru replied after swallowing the food in his mouth. He picked up one of the hot dogs on his plate. "You were busy being _amazing_."

Laughing at his emphasis on 'amazing', Sakura shook her head and smiled. Focusing down on her food, it was a hot dog, coleslaw, and chips. Something she hadn't had in a long time. _I miss camping food._

"How's the setup over on your campsite Abari?" Shikaku's voice was heard as he and his brother-in-law sat down on the other side of the fire pit.

"Well it's kind of like this, but since we have three tents, the kids tents are beside each other," Abari replied, then he shook his head. "The boys weren't too thrilled that they had to share a tent, while their sister got her own, but Sumiko put the arguing to a stop pretty quickly."

"It was the same way with us growing up. Sumiko got her own things, while Suno and I often had to share," Shikaku smiled at the thought. "But it wasn't too bad, as we got along more as we got into our late teens."

"It was the same for me and my siblings." Shinji agreed, his eyes focusing on the path the campsite was off of. He was able to see the others were heading their way.

Shikamaru's eyes went to Sakura. "You know it seems like most siblings start to get along as they get older. What happened to you?"

Nearly spitting out the water in her mouth, Sakura had to cover her mouth as she coughed a little. Then she started laughing and shaking her head at Shikamaru. "We're not that bad."

"Have you met you and your siblings?" Shikamaru countered, smirking as that made her laugh again. "I'm sure it mostly comes from you stirring up trouble."

"I don't know what would give you that idea," Sakura shrugged her shoulders, as she picked up her water again. "I'm an angel. I never cause any problems _ever_."

Shikamaru was the one who was laughing this time, as he brought his hand to his face. "Coming from the person who threw a shoe at me, and claimed she didn't moments later just so I'd be the only one in trouble for it. You're a little bit crazy."

Grinning at that, Sakura leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry, but you signed up for this crazy. So, I expect full support on all my shenanigans."

"Why do I feel like I'm going to end up in jail with you in the next few months?" Shikamaru countered, making everyone laugh. He joined after a moment of watching Sakura laugh. _She's crazy, but I guess I like a little crazy after all._

 **A few hours later**

"I'm exhausted." Was the first thing Sakura said, as she laid back on her pillow.

"Me too," Shikamaru agreed, pulling his shirt off, then he laid down beside her. They both were laying on top of their sleeping bags with a light blanket covering them, as it was too hot for the sleeping bags still. "Why is camping fun again?"

That made Sakura smile as she turned on her side to face him. "Think of it this way, we could be back in the Leaf village where we have responsibilities and boring things to do. Here we have no responsibilities, and there's fun things to do."

"That's true, I did have a lot of fun today," Shikamaru said, a smirk growing on his face. "Not having anything to do after having to plan that party and then the mission I went on… it's nice."

"Exactly," Sakura agreed with a nod. "We can do anything we want to this week, and it's going to be amazing."

Shikamaru's eyebrow raised, as he looked over to her. His smirk still on his face. "Anything?"

At the look in his eyes, a smile grew on Sakura's face. Slipping one of her legs over him so she could sit on his lap, she leaned over so she could kiss him. When their kiss broke, she reached over to turn the lantern off, then her eyes went back to him. "Anything."

* * *

 **A/N: So they are starting off their camping trip with a pretty chill first day. I am pretty excited to write the rest of their camping experience, and continue Sakura and Shikamaru's relationship. My favorite scene to write was the opening scene of Shikamaru waking up Sakura. What was your favorite moment this chapter?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

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 **Also be sure to check out my blog: ruby1235fanfiction. blogspot .com (no spaces)**


	3. Sunflowers

_Review:_

 _Shikamaru's eyebrow raised, as he looked over to her. His smirk still on his face. "Anything?"_

 _At the look in his eyes, a smile grew on Sakura's face. Slipping one of her legs over him so she could sit on his lap, she leaned over so she could kiss him. When their kiss broke, she reached over to turn the lantern off, then her eyes went back to him. "Anything."_

* * *

 **The next morning**

"Will you hold still?"

"I am."

"No Sakura, you're not," Shikamaru said, laughing at her sticking out her tongue at him. He was currently putting sunscreen on her back and shoulders. "I'm trying to help you here."

That made Sakura smile, as she turned to face him. Wrapping her arms around him, she kissed him. "I know, and I appreciate it."

A smirk started on Shikamaru's face, as he took her by the shoulders to turn her back around. "Somehow I think you are more appreciative of the opportunity to get on my nerves."

"It's the same thing." Sakura shot back, laughing along with Shikamaru. Feeling his hands return back to her shoulders and back to finish up with the sunscreen, her eyes taking in the scenery around them. They were at a small beach off the lake, it was only about ten minutes away from their campsites. They had got there pretty early, so it was really only Shikamaru's family around. Some of his family was throwing around a frisbee, swimming in the water, or laying out on the sand. She and Shikamaru were the last to arrive at the beach, and were currently over by everyone else's towels and the beach umbrella to put on sunscreen.

When Shikamaru finished up with Sakura, they switched and Sakura smirked after watching Shikamaru take off his shirt. Starting with the sunscreen on his shoulders, she hummed. "Damn. You should walk around with your shirt off more often."

Chuckling at her words, Shikamaru shook his head. "Can you not? My family is not even twenty feet away."

"I would say I'm sorry, but I can't help it that my boyfriend is really hot-"

"Sakura!" Shikamaru interrupted her, trying to hold back laughter.

Finishing up putting sunscreen on him, Sakura turned to put the sunscreen back into her beach bag. "It's not my fault that I think you're attractive."

That made Shikamaru smirk as he turned around to face her. "You could be a little more quiet about it. I'm pretty sure my entire family heard you from across the beach."

"It's a small beach." Sakura shot back, taking a long sip of water.

"Not that small," Shikamaru replied, chuckling at her eye roll. "It's not like I mind it really. It's just my family still thinks it's fun to poke fun at the fact that I'm even a relationship. I'm trying to not get anymore of their attention about it."

"So what? Am I supposed to just think about how attractive you are and just not tell you?" Sakura countered, a smile on her face as she stood up to face him.

"It's actually pretty easy," Shikamaru said, reaching up to cup her chin, before he kissed her. "What do you think I was thinking about when I was putting your sunscreen on you?"

Taken off guard, Sakura's cheeks flushed red, as she tried to think of a response.

Smirking at her loss for words, Shikamaru kissed her again, and reached down to take her hand. "Let's go get in the water."

 **Skip to tubing scene**

Greeted with the cold water as she was submerged, Sakura smiled as she swam back up to the surface. Once up she flipped her hair out of her face, and laughed. "That was awesome!"

Shikaku drove the back in her direction, and slowed down to a stop about ten feet from her. "I thought that turn we made back near that cove would have got you."

"But this one was pretty crazy though," Shikamaru said, a smirk on his face. "You flew off the tube so fast."

"I stayed on for a while though."

Shikaku nodded in agreement with Sakura. "That's true. She did stay on for nearly five minutes this time. Those last few turns I made were pretty sharp too."

"It was not that long." Shikamaru disagreed, as he got up on the back of the boat to let the ladder down in the water for her to get back on the boat.

Sakura grinned as she pulled herself up on the ladder. "I beat your time by almost two minutes.

Shikamaru just smirks as he pulled the tube onto the back of the boat. "I didn't realize it was a competition."

"It was," Sakura started and once on the boat, she reached over to Shikamaru's shoulder to steady herself as some waves went by them. Stepping down onto the back bench seat in the back of the boat, she accepted the towel from Yoshino, and used it to wrap around herself. "At least for me it was."

That made Shikamaru smirk and nudge her. "Well I guess I better do better during round two."

"Maybe we should stop somewhere for lunch, before you two end up competing for the rest of the day." Yoshino suggested, a smile on her face.

Shikamaru nodded, as he pulled the tube onto the back of the boat. "Sounds good to me."

"Giving up so easily?"

At Sakura's challenging tone, Shikamaru smirked right back at her. "Absolutely not..." Trailing off at the mischievous look in her eye, he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not going to lie; you have this terrifying look in your eye, and it tells me that you're not going to give up unless you win."

Shrugging at that, Sakura moved to sit down up at the front of the boat. "I like to win, and I usually do."

Following her up to the front, Shikamaru grinned at her confidence. "I'm never playing a game with you again."

"You really just need to be on my team, then you won't have to compete against me."

"I call dibs on Sakura's team!" Yoshino called from where she was sitting towards the back of the boat.

"Oh well," Sakura said, putting on her sunglasses, and smiling up at Shikamaru. "Sorry Shikamaru, the invite is revoked."

While that made Shikaku and Yoshino laugh, Shikamaru just shook his head, as he sat down beside Sakura. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and kissing her cheek.

They drove for nearly another twenty minutes, before Shikaku started to slow the boat down. They were nearing a medium sized island that was mostly taken over by trees and very large rocks. The view of the island caught Sakura's attention right away, and she turned to see more of it. They were driving into a small cove that looked perfectly curved into the island. On one side there was some big rocks that some hung out over the water top a bit. There was a lot of sand, and what really got to her was the large patch of sunflowers growing more at the edge of the woods where the sand met dirt. "Oh wow."

Noticing Sakura admiring the spot, Shikamaru smiled. "We found this spot when I was a kid. We would stop here to have lunch and fish a little."

"The sunflowers…" Sakura trailed off, the bright yellow petals seemed never ending. "I've never seen so many in one spot."

Shikaku finally got the boat close enough to land where he could turn it off. Shikamaru got up and jumped off the front and guided the boat the rest of the way to land, and tied it off on a fallen tree that was halfway in the water.

While Yoshino and Shikaku got off the boat, Sakura went back to the back and grabbed her loose raceback tank to put on over her swimsuit. Leaving her shorts off as her bikini bottoms weren't quite dry enough yet. Letting her towel hang over the side of the boat so it could somewhat dry off, she grabbed her bag, and went back to the front of the boat to get off. Smiling as Shikamaru offered her his hand as she jumped off the front. As soon as her feet hit the sand, she started over to the sunflowers. Once close by she was stopped and got out her camera to take a few pictures.

"These are actually my favorite flower." Shikamaru caught up with her, and stopped nearby. Admiring the flowers as well.

"Really?" Sakura asked, watching him nod, she turned her camera on him, and took a picture.

"Sakura-"

"I'm just capturing the moment," Sakura interrupted him, setting the camera so she could look back at the picture she took. It was a perfect moment of Shikamaru smiling at her, and the sunflowers in the background. "Something you probably should know about is that I like to document pretty much everything."

Shikamaru nodded, as he leaned over to look at the picture she took of him. "I've seen you write in a journal here and there."

"Yeah, well that started out when I was pretty young," Sakura said, switching the setting back so she could take more pictures. "That started out when I was pretty young. I have journals from age 8 to now. That'll be 10 years of my life… Well once we get to my birthday at the end of August it will be. It wasn't until I was almost fifteen that I got into photography, and that just added to my documenting."

"So you scrapbook?"

Sakura grinned at his question. "Yeah. My mom did it for us while we were growing up, and I guess I just got into it. With the technology getting more and more innovative, I've started storing most of them digitally. But I still like to get some physical copies for my journal… or scrapbook. Whatever you want to call it."

Shikamaru was quiet, as he studied her taking pictures of the flowers some more. "That's seems really fitting for you… How is me standing next to some flowers making the cut for your journal though?"

Pausing in her picture taking, Sakura met Shikamaru's eyes. "Well it's when I found out something you like. This place seems to have a lot of memories for you. You told me your favorite flower is a sunflower. I assume because that stems from growing up and coming here a lot. I think that's something important that I want to remember."

"I never really thought about it that way. But I guess you're right. I probably care much for sunflowers otherwise," Shikamaru said, chuckling at that. "I'd like to see more of what you have documented so far this trip. If you don't mind."

"Alright, I'll show back at the campsite-"

"Are you two going to eat sometime today?" Yoshino's voice interrupted Sakura.

"Coming mom!" Shikamaru called back, before offering his hand to Sakura. "Let's go eat."

 **An hour later**

After relaxing a little after lunch, Shikaku had grabbed his fishing pole and moved over to some of the large rocks off to the right of the little cove, and set up on top of the rocks to fish. Yoshino was nearby reading her book in the shade of one of the many trees.

"Let's go get in the water."

Shikamaru hummed at Sakura's words. "As fun as that sounds, I'm actually pretty comfortable sitting here, and doing nothing for the next hour or so."

"Come on," Sakura said, motioning up to the sun. "It's super hot."

"We're sitting in the shade." Shikamaru pointed out at the large tree that was behind them.

Sighing heavily at that, Sakura stuck her tongue out at him. "You're no fun," she said, smiling as she noticed that made him smirk. Leaning over she kissed his cheek. "Enjoy your do nothing time." Getting up from the sand, Sakura dusted some of it off her legs, then removed her tank top. Wading into the water, she stopped about knee deep as she felt some goosebumps arise from being in the cool water. Closing her eyes, she pulled her hair down from the messy bun she had it up in.

It was silent for a long moment, then all of a sudden there was a loud splash and Sakura felt water droplets hit her. She opened her eyes, and smiled at the sight in front of her.

Shikamaru surfaced from underwater, and flipped his hair out of his face. Grinning at Sakura propping her hands on her hips, he motioned to the water. "I thought we were going swimming."

"I was. You had other plans."

"Well that was the plan," Shikamaru moved closer to her in order to take her hand, and begin to pull her further out in the water. "But then you just made it look like so much fun."

"I haven't even started to actually swim yet." Sakura said, as they stopped where the water was just up to below her chest. Her smiled widening as he put his arms around her.

"I wasn't necessarily talking about the swimming part that looked fun." Shikamaru said, then he kissed her.

Enjoying the moment, Sakura finally broke their kiss when she felt Shikamaru's hand slide down to her butt. "Shikamaru, your parents are right over there."

"They are on the other side of the boat, and they can't see us." Shikamaru pointed out, before kissing her again.

When their kiss broke again, Sakura sighed and smiled. "I guess you're right."

"Exactly-"

Shikamaru was interrupted when Sakura jumped up, wrapped her legs around him, and pushed him under water. When they both resurfaced she grinned. "You're it."

That had Shikamaru chuckling at the sight of Sakura swimming away from him, before he followed shortly after. _She's something else._

 **Later that evening**

"Oh my god, this is so good." Sakura happily took another bite out of smore. The gooey marshmellow was just what she had been waiting for out of this camping experience.

"Do you want another one?" Shikamaru asked her, smiling at the happy look on Sakura's face. They were over at his aunt Sumiko's campsite, as their kids were roasting marshmellows.

"Yes, but no. I've already had three and I do actually want to sleep tonight," Sakura replied, taking the last of the smore in her mouth. She quickly finished eating it, as she looked back at Shikamaru. "I also was occasionally just eating the marshmellows by themselves in-between the times I was roasting marshmellows for the smores."

"I noticed… You have some marshmellow and chocolate on your face still," Shikamaru smirked as he grabbed a napkin for her, but kissed her first before giving it to her. "You taste like sugar overload."

Wiping the chocolate and marshmellow from her face, Sakura smiled back at him. "You should have another smore."

"One was enough for me," Shikamaru replied, then he leaned over to kiss her again. His eyes then went to some of his family returning back to the campsite, including his mom and dad. "Thought you all were lost."

"We were just taking our time coming back. Enjoying the nature." Shikaku replied.

"Who else is left?" Yoshino added, moving to go sit down in a camping chair by her husband.

"Just Sakura and I. We would have already gone but..." Shikamaru trailed off, as his eyes went to Sakura.

Sakura, who was mid-bit into her smore, shrugged her shoulders. "What? I wanted to go catch some lightning bugs, and make more smores."

While that made the others chuckle, Shikamaru just smirked at her. "Ready to go now?"

Sakura nodded, and finished her smore as they both got up. "I definitely could use a shower."

After saying a quick goodbye to Shikamaru's family, Sakura and Shikamaru left to walk back to their campsite. The whole family and been taking turns heading to the bathhouse, and since they were last the sun was already starting to go down.

Once back at their campsite they grabbed their clothes and shower necessities, and started on the path to the bathhouse that was five minutes away. "How much you want to bet that all the water is gone?"

Sakura shrugged at that. "Well that's what we get for going last."

"Well that was partially your doing." Shikamaru smirked. After a moment of her not responding back, he turned to see she had stopped walking beside him. Since the sun was going down now, so it was darker outside and the lamp posts were starting to come on. Sakura had stopped back by a lamp post, and had her back to him. "Sakura?"

"Sorry," Sakura said, turning back around to face him, a smile on her face as she had her hands cupped together. Opening them up a lightning bug flew out from her cupped hands. "Lightning bug, I couldn't help myself."

Shikamaru smirked, as he waited for Sakura to catch back up to him before taking her hand. "You know I've seen you scream and freak out over spiders so many times, it surprises me that you would catch lightning bugs."

"I grew up catching lightning bugs with my family," Sakura said a smile on her face. "My dad would give us each a jar and whoever caught the more than 100 lightning bugs would get five dollars. Which may not seem like much, but to a seven year-old that was enough to buy ice cream every day that week."

That had Shikamaru raising an eyebrow. "So the spiders?"

"Well as you know, Sora is a little over four years older than me, so when I was eight he was twelve. My mom allowed him to watch this horror movie about spiders, and she let me watch it too. He thought the movie was funny, while my 8-year-old self was scarred for life. I couldn't sleep in my own bed for nearly a week, because I was terrified there would be spiders under my covers."

"That makes sense," Shikamaru nodded, then he smiled at her. "Well I'm terrified of the Hokage realizing more potential in me, and making me be responsible for more things."

Sakura laughed at his dramatic tone. "I hate to break it to you, but you just scream potential. You were the first one to officially be made chunin out of everyone in our year, and whenever your in charge of something you just do a great job and make everyone want to keep asking you to do things."

"Thanks," Shikamaru said, pulling her hand up so he could kiss the back of it. "You're the same way. Everyone wants you to help them out. The Hokage, the council, and the anbu. They keep offering for you to join them."

"Yeah, but it's not like I actually want to join them. Anbu is really not for me," Sakura said, her eyes catching onto the sight of the bathhouse in the distance. "Of course I help them from time to time, but I like my team the way it is now."

When they reached the bathhouse, they separated to different sides to get their showers done. Almost half an hour went by, and Shikamaru had finished his shower pretty quickly. So he was currently waiting outside for Sakura to get done with hers. It had been pretty peaceful, as the sun had fully gone down. The sounds of the cicadas added to the relaxation.

A shriek coming from the woman's side of the bathhouse was heard, and Shikamaru was up and in there in seconds. He was greeted with the sight of Sakura standing on top of one of the benches in there, dressed in pajamas, and her hair wrapped in the towel. "What in the hell is going on?"

"A moth flew near my face," Sakura explained, rolling her eyes at his smirk, she jumped down from the bench. "It's not funny."

"It kind of is," Shikamaru chuckled, watching her go to brush her teeth at one of the sinks. "I thought you were dying or something."

Finishing up with her teeth, Sakura spit and returned her toothbrush and paste to the bag she brought with her. "I almost did."

As they started walking back to the campsite, Shikamaru took Sakura's hand. "I haven't asked this yet, but are you having fun."

"Of course I am," Sakura replied, smiling at the thought. "Everything from yesterday to today has been so much fun."

"I figured, but I just wanted to make sure."

Sakura stopped after walking after Shikamaru said that, and that made him look at her. "I am, I really am. It's been so nice to spend time with you, and not have work get in the way."

That brought a smile to Shikamaru's face, as he leaned over and kissed her. "I agree."

* * *

 **A/N: I've been enjoying writing their camping scenes! There will be one more chapter of camping related activities before they head back to the Leaf village. What was your favorite scene from this chapter?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**

 **Also be sure to check out my blog: ruby1235fanfiction. blogspot .com (no spaces)**


	4. An Amazing Last Day

_Review:_

" _I figured, but I just wanted to make sure."_

 _Sakura stopped after walking after Shikamaru said that, and that made him look at her. "I am, I really am. It's been so nice to spend time with you, and not have work get in the way."_

 _That brought a smile to Shikamaru's face, as he leaned over and kissed her. "I agree."_

* * *

 **Monday, two days later**

Opening her eyes, Sakura had to blink a few times to adjust to the light around her. _The only thing about camping is I don't have the luxury of my blackout curtains._ Remaining laying down for another few minutes, she finally pushed herself up. After slipping some shorts on and a bra under her tank top, she unzipped the tent and stepped out.

"Look who finally decided to get up," Yoshino said, she was sitting over at the picnic table reading a book, and drinking coffee. "You usually are the one to get up early, and Shikamaru usually wakes up late."

"I guess we're doing an opposites thing," Sakura chuckled, going to pour some coffee for herself. "Speaking of, why did Shikamaru get up early? The world's not ending so I can't think of anything else."

Laughing at that, Yoshino motioned over to the far side of the campsite that faced the lake. "He and his father are fishing."

Once Sakura filled the styrofoam cup with coffee, she walked over to the railing that overlooked the lake. She could just barely see where Shikamaru and his father were set up down by the lake. A smile formed on her face as she went back to sit down. "I'm sure he's enjoying that after the crazy day we had yesterday. Non-stop running around with his younger cousins between boat rides and hanging out in the lake."

"I think it's something Shikaku and Shikamaru both really look forward to each year we go camping. They are both really relaxed people, so when they get to fish it's basically like they are winning the lottery."

"That's true." Sakura agreed, her focus going back to her coffee, as she took a long drink from it. _Come on caffeine. Get to work!_

 **Skip another half hour**

"Oh look who it is," Yoshino said, having looked up from her book just as Shikamaru and Shikaku walked back up to the campsite. She smiled as Shikaku walked over. "I missed you this morning."

"Well, I think I can make up for it," Shikaku replied, as he leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "What would you say to going on a boat ride with my siblings and their spouses, without all of our kids?"

That brought a laugh from Yoshino, as she immediately closed her book. "That sounds wonderful."

Shikamaru chuckled, as he had moved over to Sakura's side of the table. After sitting down beside her, he shook his head at his mother. "I'm offended that you don't want to spend time with me, mom."

"That kind of sounds like something Sakura would say." Shikaku pointed out with a nod in Sakura's direction.

While Sakura laugh, Shikamaru sighed dramatically. "She's already rubbing off on me. This time next year, I'll have already adopted every animal on the planet, and be out drinking too much every night."

"I don't have a drinking problem Shikamaru." Sakura insisted, shaking her head at Shikamaru's laughter. "Now I'm offended."

"It's okay when you do that stuff. I still like you." Shikamaru said, kissing her gently.

While that brought a smile back to Sakura's face, Shikaku and Yoshino got ready to go down to the lake. It wasn't until after they left that Sakura focused on Shikamaru fully. "How was fishing?"

"Peaceful and much needed." Shikamaru replied, his eyes moving over to her, as he watched her put some aloe on her sunburnt shoulders.

Sakura sighed as the aloe relieved some of the burn on her shoulders. "It's so nice out this morning. We're in the shade and the wind is blowing a little."

Shikamaru nodded, as he waited for her to finish with the aloe before he reached over and got some for his own shoulders. "Once my parents, aunts and uncles get back from their boat ride, we are probably going to go to the store to restock on supplies. More ice for the cooler and food and such."

"I thought there wasn't anything around here."

"Well there isn't really anything apart from a small bait and tackle shop, and a small grocery store maybe twenty minutes away," Shikamaru finished up with the aloe, and reached over to put it back in the cooler. "Those two stores have been there since I was a kid. I remember walking there with my parents, and when my cousins and I were younger, that was a big treat. My parents would buy me an ice cream from the store, my mom would get some groceries, and my dad would stock up on some bait for fishing."

Sakura smiled at the thought. "I'm going to have to see this place for myself."

Motioning to the journal she had open in front of her on the table, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Is it going to make an appearance in your journal/scrapbook/moment capturing thing?"

Laughing at that, Sakura as she flipped through some of the pages. "I guess it will. I've been writing in this every day, and I'm leaving spaces for pictures that I will be able to print out once we are back home. So far this trip is taking up a lot of room in here."

"You might have to start making separate journals for the many different adventures in your life."

"That's a pretty good idea." Sakura replied, her eyes meeting Shikamaru's. "I'm thinking about going to go lay down before we go to the store in a couple hours. Want to join me?"

Shikamaru leaned over and kissed her once. "Absolutely."

 **A couple hours later**

"Yeah this is just like when I was a kid," Shikamaru said, his arm loosely around Sakura's shoulders, as he gently pushed them back and forth on the swing on the front porch of the bait and tackle shop. His eyes moved to Sakura who was busy eating an ice cream cone from the store. "Literally."

"I like it You can tell there is a lot of history behind these stores. There's nothing else for miles apart from that campground, and the stores are still going strong..." Sakura trailed off, as she looked over her shoulder in the direction of the grocery store. "Should we be helping the others shopping in the store."

"Well as my mom, so lovingly puts I, we'll just be getting in the way, and we're more useful sitting out here doing nothing." Shikamaru replied, motioning over off the porch where his other cousins were kicking around a soccer ball.

That brought a smile to Sakura's face, as she finished off the ice cream. "That is something my would do. She likes to do things her way, and we're all supposed to follow her."

"That kind of sounds like you."

"I'm not even like that."

"Yes you are. You like things to be organized a certain way and done a certain way. Sounds-"

"Damn it," Sakura cursed, bringing a hand to her forehead. "I'm turning into my mother."

Laughing at that, Shikamaru leaned over and kissed her. "I still like you either way."

 **Later that evening**

"It was so nice of your parents to watch Kazami for us." Akara said, smiling at Shinji.

"I'm sure they are thrilled at the fact that they get her all to themselves for a couple hours." Shinji replied, grabbing a beer from the cooler, as his eyes went from his wife to Sakura. "Shikamaru and I would do this a lot when we were younger. When I turned fifteen, I was allowed to drive the boat by myself, and we would go out in the evenings and night fish almost every night during our camping trips."

"Yeah, what he's not adding is the part whereby the time he turned sixteen, he'd sneak beers from his parents campsite and bring them with us," Shikamaru said from where he was driving the boat. "Then he would get drunk, and twelve-year-old me would have to drive us back."

That made Sakura grin. "Oh so that's why you're such a great driver."

Smirking at her tease, Shikamaru shot Sakura a raised eyebrow "Well I don't think it's fun to try and see how many passengers I can knock out of the boat while driving, unlike _someone_ I know."

"I have no idea what you're talking. I've never done that before," was Sakura's immediate reply, then she hummed. "Well not intentionally." While that made the others laugh, Sakura sipped her beer. "I kinda wish this was tequila."

"Oh yes, that'd be great right now," Akara agreed, a grin growing on her face. "Tequila was a lot of how Kazami got here."

That made Sakura laugh. "Tequila definitely has got me in trouble a few times."

Shinji nudged Shikamaru's shoulder as he moved back to the front of the boat to sit. "Better watch out Shikamaru."

"Don't jinx it!" Shikamaru exclaimed, as they all laughed. He slowed down the boat as they got over to the cove near the small island they had lunch at the other day. Instead of heading for land, he just stopped the boat in the middle of the cove. That's when he joined them up at the front of the boat after turning it off. "Remember how the boat rides were always the best when we were growing up. When we were kids, and we all claimed the front of the boat."

"Yeah, my dad would drive us around for hours trying to hit all the waves because we thought it was the coolest thing to see who can bounce the most." Shinji added, a smile on his face at the thought.

"Yeah, but do you remember that time that Shinji finally was old enough to ride up front with you and I, and he hit his nose on the railing on the front of the boat."

"Yeah, that wasn't so cool." Shinji said, shaking his head and grinning at the memory.

Akara hummed lowly. "My favorite part from the boat rides was always when we got to go tubing."

"So how long have you and Shinji been together?" Sakura asked, taking another sip of here beer.

"Almost five years. We got married last year, and Akara came into our lives not long after," Akara replied, a smile on her face as she motioned to Sakura and Shikamaru. "How did you two get together? I mean a bunch of us kind of could tell that something was happening between you two, but we didn't really know anything for sure."

Sharing a look with Shikamaru, Sakura finally shrugged. "I don't know. We were friends at first, then it just kind of turned into more over time."

"According to our friends, it was very obvious that we liked each other more than just friends to everyone else except for us for a while." Shikamaru added, an eyebrow raised at how that made Akara laugh and Shinji smirk.

"It was very obvious actually." Akara confirmed, continuing to laugh.

"Yeah, every time you two would leave the room at any family gathering we had, all the adults would start talking about you two." Shinji continued to grin as that made Shikamaru sigh.

"That must be why they still seem to have a very active interest in my relationship."

Smiling at Shikamaru's sigh, Sakura shook her head. "It's really not that bad Shikamaru."

"It's because it isn't your family. If it was your family you-"

"Would probably die." Sakura interrupted, making them all start to laugh. As the conversation shifted to more stories about more Nara family camping trips, Sakura smiled as she rested her hand in the crook of Shikamaru's arm, and her head lightly on his shoulder. _Two and a half months ago, I had no idea this is where I would end up. But I am so happy it did._

 **The next morning, Tuesday, July 20th**

"Come on Sakura."

Groaning at the sound of Shikamaru's voice, Sakura rolled away from him.

Chuckling at her, Shikamaru persisted. "Sakura, we need to get up."

"It's cold." Sakura mumbled, turning back to face him, and snuggling against his chest. "Let's not get up ever."

Smiling at her so close, Shikamaru wrapped his arm loosely around her, and rested his chin on the top of her head. Giving in for a few minutes, he stroked her hair back for a little while. Almost ten minutes passed, before he finally sat up. "Okay, times up."

"No." Sakura grumbled, proceeding to hide under the blanket.

Grabbing a shirt from his bag, Shikamaru slipped it on, and moved to unzip the front of the tent. "While you focus all of your energy on trying to get up, I am going to go start on breakfast."

Sakura hummed in response, but remained curled up under the blanket. It wasn't for another ten minutes that she finally emerged from the tent. The blanket wrapped around her, and her hair loosely pulled up in a bun. She had to struggle to let her eyes adjust as the light wasn't much better outside, as the sun hadn't really begun to rise yet. "Why are we awake?"

Chuckling at the sight of Sakura wrapped up in her blanket, Shikamaru placed her plate down on the picnic table. "Here's your breakfast."

"Okay..." Sakura trailed off, as she sat down at the picnic table. Opening her mouth to question him, she yawned instead.

"I worked it out with my family to let us have one of the boats all day," Shikamaru explained as he set his own plate down across from her at the picnic table. "I thought it'd be a nice for us to spend all day together, just the two of us."

Sakura was quiet in response, as she finally picked up the plastic fork to eat her breakfast. She stared down at her breakfast for a moment, then her eyes met Shikamaru's. "Can I have coffee?"

Laughing at that, Shikamaru motioned over to the grill where he was currently heating up water. "I'm working on it."

 **Later that afternoon, 1 o'clock**

Sakura hollering at the top of her lungs filled the air, as she took a leap off the large rock. Landing in the water seconds later, she was surrounded by the chill of the lake water. Resurfacing she turned around to look up at the top of the large rock. Her eyes meeting Shikamaru's. "Your turn."

Shikamaru grinned back at her, before jumping off the rock.

Sakura waited for him to resurface, and smiled when she felt his hands on her waist first, before he resurfaced in front of her. "That was a lot of fun."

"I thought you would like it," Shikamaru said, matching the smile on her face. "We used to come here when we were kids. It seemed a hell of a lot bigger when we were kids though."

"It's still fun," Sakura kissed him, and when their kiss broke she looked back up at the rock. "Can we go again?"

"Of course." Shikamaru agreed, as they both swam closer to where their feet could touch the bottom. They walked out of the water and to the boat that was tied up by a tree nearby. Shikamaru's eyes had gone up to the cloudy sky above them. "It looks like it might rain soon. The forecast says it'll only last for an hour or two."

Sakura got out of the water, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe it'll cool down a bit after it rains. It's been hot today."

"That it has," Shikamaru agreed, as he got back into the boat. He started to gather his and Sakura's belongings and set them in the driver's seat, then he proceeded to put up the canopy on the boat. It shielded the drivers and passengers seats as well as some of the back bench on the boat. The front of the boat, however, was left unshielded. "Just in case it does, I'll put up the canopy and hopefully it'll keep our stuff from getting wet."

"Unless the wind makes the rain blow sideways." Sakura pointed out, grinning at Shikamaru got back off the boat. Her eyes dropped down to her crossed arms when she shivered after getting a chill from the light wind. "I'm getting goosebumps."

"I guess we better get back in the water then." Shikamaru said, taking her hand as they walked back up to the top of the rock. It was nearly thirty feet higher than the water. Once they got to the top, he let go of Sakura's hand, and jumped first this time. When he resurfaced, he looked up to watch Sakura jump, and he smiled as she did a flip this time. After she resurfaced, he reached a hand out to pull her closer. "Are you trying to showing off?"

"Of course I am-" Sakura stopped as rain started falling around them. When her eyes caught Shikamaru's again, they both smiled.

"It's raining." Shikamaru said, laughing along with Sakura, as they had swam over to where they both could stand. As soon as he had his feet on the bottom, he pulled Sakura closer, and kissed her. The rain falling around them peacefully.

 **Later that evening**

"Okay, we're going to have to go get something to eat, or else I'm going to die."

Laughing at Sakura's dramatic words, Shikamaru motioned ahead of them. "I know, that's what we're doing here."

Turning her head to look where he was pointing, Sakura's jaw dropped a little, as she walked up to the front of the boat to look ahead of them. There was a small island with one large two-story building, and there two long docks with several boats tied off. "This is where we are eating?"

"Yep," Shikamaru said, focusing on slowing the boat down as they got closer to an open spot on one of the docks. He finally shut off the boat, and tied the boat off on the dock before getting out. He reached a hand over to Sakura, a smile on his face at the sight of her still looking at the restaurant. "You coming?"

"Uh yeah." Sakura accepted his hand, and got out of the boat. They walked hand-in-hand down the long dock, and her eyes moved to the big sign above the door that read 'The Dock'.

When they walked in, they were greeted with chatter from the other people dining at the restaurant. They stopped at the front, and Shikamaru's eyes met the hostesses. "We have a reservation under Nara."

The hostess nodded, as she picked up two menus. "Yes, for a table upstairs on the patio. Follow me."

As they started to follow the hostess, Sakura eyed Shikamaru. "When-"

"When my dad and I were out on the boat on Sunday to go fishing, I requested we stop here so I could make it," Shikamaru said, smiling at her as they waited for a waitress carrying a tray of food to a table. "If you couldn't already tell, this place is usually pretty popular in the evenings."

Sakura's eyes swept the restaurant that was almost fully packed. _With how many boats were at the docks it makes sense._

As they walked up the stairs to the second floor, it was about as pack inside as the downstairs floor was. But when they walked out on the patio section, it was surprisingly a lot less populated. There were much fewer tables outside than there were inside. The hostess took them to a table that overlooked the docks, and set their menu's down on the table.

"A waitress will be right with you." The hostess said, offering a smile before walking away.

Sakura admired the view they had from higher up. The docks, all the boats, and the lake. The was about to start setting as well. Finally, she looked at Shikamaru. "This is kind of amazing."

That brought a smile to Shikamaru's face. "I'm glad you like it."

"So how does this work?" Sakura asked, looking around the restaurant around them. "You can only get here by boat, so how does the restaurant operate?"

"Well the employees have boats and some jet ski's docked at the back of the restaurant. That's also where they get supplies delivered. This restaurant has been here since my parents were teenagers. They grew up with the original owner's daughter, and they are pretty good friends with her."

"Good evening," a waitress greeted them before Sakura could respond to Shikamaru. "What can I get you two to drink?"

Sakura hummed for a moment in thought. "Sweet tea."

"I'll have the same," Shikamaru said, his eyes going from the waitress to Sakura. "Do you want to get an appetizer?"

Sakura shrugged. "I've never been here before, so what do you recommend?"

"I know you like things that are loaded with carbs or cheese, so mozzarella sticks?"

"Absolutely yes," Sakura said, a smile on her face. "You know me so well."

The waitress laughed here as she wrote that down. "Alright, I'll be back with your drinks, then your appetizer shortly."

After the waitress left, Sakura picked up the menu to start looking at it. "I have no idea what I want."

"Well I have tried most everything on the menu here, so I can answer any questions you have."

Almost ten minutes later, they had their drinks and had ordered their food. Sakura had spent some time looking around more at the view around them, and finally, she started chuckling.

"What?"

"I think this count as our first official date," Sakura said, then she waved a hand. "Well at least in terms of going out to dinner that doesn't involve us bringing takeout back to my apartment, or having dinner with other people we know."

"Hmmm. Well, we did technically have a date during the festival."

"Fair enough, but this is our first real date since we started our relationship. Officially."

"I guess that's true."

"I probably would have pictured this a little differently though."

"How so?"

Sakura motioned to herself. "Well, for one thing, I probably wouldn't be dressed in an old t-shirt and shorts. I also probably would have put on at least a little bit of makeup, and my hair wouldn't have been out of control from constantly getting wet today, then having it air dried in the boat."

Shikamaru shrugged, and took a sip of his tea. "I think you look perfect."

That brought a smile to Sakura's face, as they held each other's eyes for a moment.

"Here are your mozzarella sticks," the waitress said, setting the basket on the table. "Your dinner will be out shortly."

"Damn," Sakura said, picking up one of the mozzarella sticks. "I all of a sudden remember why I like food."

Shikamaru laughed, as he picked one up as well.

Sakura bit into the one she had, and the cheese seemed to melt in her mouth. "This is perfect."

 **An hour later**

Having gotten ice cream cones to go, Sakura and Shikamaru walked their way down to the end of the dock where their boat was. They just finished up their ice cream cones as they got to the end. The sun had just gone down, and the lamps were on at the docks, Shikamaru first and he gets back in the boat, and Sakura takes a minute longer to finish hers before she gets back in as well. "That was a great dinner."

"I have to agree with you." Shikamaru says as he started the boat up and backed it away from the dock before turning it around to head back home. "I can't believe we're going home tomorrow."

"I know, it does seem like this camping trip just flew by," Sakura agreed, a smile growing on her face. "It has been a nice trip, but I do miss my furbabies."

"I'm not surprised, you were talking about them in your sleep last night." Shikamaru smirked at how that made Sakura laugh.

"I was not!" Sakura exclaimed, laughing along with Shikamaru now.

Shikamaru started the boat forward. "We've got around an hour drive to get back to the campsite. So I hope you are up for a little night drive."

"Sounds good to me..." Sakura trailed off, as Shikamaru held out a sweatshirt to her.

"It gets a little chilly at night with the temperature drop and the wind as we're driving."

Smiling at that, Sakura slipped the sweatshirt on, then loosely wrapped her arm through his, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for taking me to dinner tonight. I really enjoyed it. Really this whole day has been amazing."

"You're welcome." Shikamaru said, leaning his head down a little so he could kiss her. Then focused on speeding up the boat to head back.

* * *

 **A/N: Last day of camping is coming to an end, and this was probably one of my favorite out of the camping chapters to write. What was your favorite scene?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**

 **Also be sure to check out my blog: ruby1235fanfiction. blogspot .com (no spaces)**


	5. A Fun Friend Day

_Review:_

 _Smiling at that, Sakura slipped the sweatshirt on, then loosely wrapped her arm through his, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for taking me to dinner tonight. I really enjoyed it. Really this whole day has been amazing."_

 _"You're_ welcome. _" Shikamaru said, leaning his head down a little so he could kiss her. Then focused on speeding up the boat to head back._

* * *

 **The next day, Thursday the 23rd**

Being ripped away from her dreams at a whole lot of very uncomfortable pressure, Sakura opened her eyes and had to quickly turn onto her side to avoid Tank's body from squishing her again. Barking followed, and she just had to take a moment to register where she was. Back in her apartment and apparently Shadow and Tank were competing on who can squish her and bark the loudest.

Sakura broke out of her tunneled thought at the sound of laughter. Her eyes glanced to the end of the bed where Hinata stood. Having been the source behind why Shadow and Tank were acting out of control.

Hinata smiled at Sakura's confused look. "It's almost noon."

Grumbling under her breath, Sakura let her head fall back on her pillows. "Time isn't real."

Laughing at Sakura's grumbling, Hinata clapped her hands together to get the dogs off the bed. "I'm going to go let the dogs out real quick, because I'm sure they are about to really go crazy if they don't get to use the bathroom soon."

Sighing heavily, Sakura held up a thumbs up sign to Hinata, and closed her eyes again.

Fifteen minutes passed before Hinata and the dogs returned. The dogs jumped on the bed, as Hinata walked more calmly over to the bed. "Baby sat on top of the bar counter. I tried to pet her and she hissed at me, but I'm trying to not let it hurt my feelings. Especially after I took care of her for nearly an entire week while you were gone, and several times in the past."

Sakura laughed, and opened her eyes. That's when she realized Hinata was holding out a cup of coffee for her. "You're the best."

"I know," Hinata replied, sitting next to Sakura on the bed, and sipping her own cup of coffee. "We didn't really get to talk much when you got home yesterday afternoon. As I recall, you walked in my apartment to retrieve your animals, said you were going home to sleep for two years, then left immediately."

"Did I thank you for watching my furbabies?" Sakura asked, before she smiled. "If not, thank you. What would I do without you best friend?"

"Not have coffee right now," Hinata replied with a laugh. "What did you do when you got home?"

"It's actually pretty simple. I dropped my belongings on the couch-"

"Which are still there by the way," Hinata interrupted, laughing at Sakura's shrug. "Continue."

Taking another long sip of coffee, Sakura sighed. "I took an hour-long shower, and went to bed right at seven p.m. Then I just woke up this morning."

"Did you eat dinner last night?"

"No…" Sakura trailed off to glance at her clock on her bedside table. "And it is now past noon, so I apparently missed breakfast as well."

"Well after we finish our coffee, we should probably go get some actual food into your system," Hinata said, laughing at the thought. "I know you think that you can replace some meals with coffee, but that's not how it works in the real world."

"Wishful thinking I guess," Sakura said, taking a long sip of coffee. "So, Shikamaru and I are having sex."

Hinata's eyes widened, as she looked to Sakura. "Why do I get the feeling that this isn't new?"

"It's kinda new. It started the week before we camping

"And why are you just telling me now?"

"Because at the ball, you made it seem like you didn't want to talk about that kind of stuff."

Shaking her head at Sakura's words, Hinata waved her hand. "We were in a public place Sakura, and it really wasn't the time."

"Well we weren't even having sex then, so it's not like it mattered," Sakura sipped her coffee again. "Anyways, we are now."

It was quiet for a moment, then Hinata glanced back over to Sakura. "So how was it?"

That brought a grin to Sakura's face. "Amazing."

 **A couple hours later at Ichiraku**

Taking the last bite of noodles from her ramen, Sakura's eyes moved over to Hinata. "We should do something fun tomorrow. Like a full day of fun activities with our friends."

"That sounds good," Hinata said, bringing a hand to cover her mouth as she felt some of the broth from the ramen trail down her chin. "What did you have in mind?"

Focusing down at her feet where Shadow and Tank were both laying below her bar stool. "Well I was thinking of hiking in the morning. I can take Shadow and Tank, and they would just enjoy that… Then maybe a bonfire in the evening."

"I think that'd be fun."

Sakura nodded along with Hinata, as she rested her elbow on the bar top and her chin on her hand. "Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, I really did miss Naruto and Sai… Even though they are bonehead idiots who probably almost got themselves killed while I was gone."

"Hey!" Came Naruto and Sai's chorused response from Sakura's other side.

"We're sitting right here." Sai told her.

"We have been the entire time we've been eating ramen… For over half an hour." Naruto added, his eyes narrowed along with Sai's at Sakura waving them off.

"Yeah, yeah," Sakura said, then she moved to stand up after handing over cash to pay for her ramen. Both her dogs jumped up at her moving. Her eyes focused on Hinata. "Can you start spreading the word? We can meet up at the bottom of the mountain where the hiking trail starts. I'm thinking around seven in the morning."

"Let's make it eight," Hinata said, motioning down to the dogs. "Those two woke me up early almost the whole time I was watching them. I'm not planning on getting up that early tomorrow on purpose."

"Eight it is then." Sakura agreed with a nod, watching as the others paid and got up to leave as well.

"I need to get home," Hinata started, reaching down to pet both Shadow and Tank. "I have some laundry to catch up on, as I did absolutely no housework while I was watching these two and Baby, as I felt like it was appropriate to only focus on them."

Sakura grinned at that. "That's why you're my favorite pet sitter."

"Uh Hinata," Naruto started, his hands up behind his head. "Can I walk you home?"

That made both Sakura and Sai raise eyebrows. Sai breaking out into a grin after a moment. "How nice of Naruto to volunteer?"

Sakura nodded, her arms crossed, as she grinned as well. "What a gentleman."

"Shut up," Hinata spoke hurriedly as both Sakura and Sai started snickering. Then she smiled warmly at Naruto. "Sure."

Watching as Naruto and Hinata walked away, Sakura kept her smile on her face, as her eyes went to Sai. "I'm going over to Shikamaru's. Ino might be over there if you want to come with."

"I don't know why you would think that'd make me want to come with you..." Sai trailed off, then he coughed. "Let's go."

Grinning ear to ear now, Sakura motioned for the dogs to follow them. "Come on."

Twenty minutes later they arrived at Shikamaru's house, and passed Choji on his way back home. When they went up the porch, Sakura noticed Shikaku motioning for them to come in from the window. Sure enough, Ino was there. Sakura's eyes went to Sai. "See I told you she would be here Sai."

Glaring in Sakura's direction, Sai grumbled under his breath. "I hate you."

"Aw, thank you," Sakura said, resting her hand on Sai's shoulder. "I love you too Sai."

Knocking Sakura's hand off his shoulder, Sai smiled as Ino walked over to him. "Hey."

"Hey, I was actually about to head over to the flower shop, and see if my mom needed any help," Ino said, a twinkle in her eye. "Want to come with me?"

"Sure." Sai agreed, turning to open the front door for Ino to walk through first.

After Sai and Ino left, Sakura moved over to where Shikamaru was sitting on the couch. She kissed him once, then sat down. "Hey."

"I was wondering when I would see you again," Shikamaru said, his eyes going to where Shadow made himself comfortable by their feet, and he could hear Tank following his mom around the kitchen. "How was the rest of your day yesterday and today?"

"Great. After we parted ways at the gate, I went to pick up my furbabies, went home, took a long hot shower, then I ate dinner and went to bed at seven."

Shikamaru nodded once. "That's pretty much what we all did. I didn't get out of bed until almost noon today."

"Same but I woke up a little earlier, I just didn't get out of bed until almost noon," Sakura said, smiling as Shikamaru wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Hinata came over and we caught up, then we went out to eat and met up with Naruto and Sai. Then Sai and I came over here, and now we're caught up."

Shikamaru chuckled. "I wish I had that much of a productive day. I haven't even left my house today."

"It's okay, because we'll have a productive day tomorrow," Sakura said, smiling at Shikamaru's raised eyebrow. "We're going hiking tomorrow morning."

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"If I asked, you would say no."

"You don't know that's what I would say," Shikamaru started, then he smirked. "Besides, if I did say no, you would still show up in my room at five o'clock in the morning, and I'd end up going hiking anyways."

"True," Sakura said, laughing along with his parents. Leaning her head over to rest on Shikamaru's shoulder, she smiled. "Will you go hiking tomorrow? Pretty please."

Shikamaru's smile broke out on his face, as he watched her. "Yes… But mostly because I know I'm going either way."

At his agreement, Sakura moved to kiss his cheek, and she went back to resting her head on his shoulder. "It's going to be fun. We can go hiking in the morning, then Hinata and I thought it'd be nice to have a bonfire later that evening. I am recovering from camping still, so I don't want to do too much."

"It sounds like you're having withdrawals from camping." Shikamaru told her.

Sakura grinned at that. "More like having withdrawals from smores."

 **The next day**

"Whoa." Sakura said, jumping over another rock, and laughing as she had to catch her balance. She was currently in the middle of the river, and was crossing the big rocks in the river. It ran along a long stretch of the hiking trail they were on. It was just outside the Leaf village on the east side.

"Sorry." Came Naruto's apology after he nearly knocked Sakura into the water, as he joined her on the big rock she was on.

"Watch it!" Sakura exclaimed, starting to turn towards him. "You almost made me go in."

"Well, you were kind of in the way." Naruto shot back, as he narrowed his eyes at her irritation.

"I was admiring the view-"

Sai jumping over to the rock they were on, interrupted Sakura, and caused Naruto to fall into the water. That made both Sakura and Sai start to laugh.

Naruto resurfaced, and shook out his hair. Glaring up at Sai. "Hey-"

Sakura pushed Sai in, interrupted Naruto's exclamation, and she grinned at how that immediately turned Naruto's anger into happiness, as he started laughing.

However, as soon as Sai re-surfaced, he didn't hesitate in reaching up and pulling Sakura into the water with them.

Greeted by the cool water, Sakura grabbed the edge of the rock they had been on before, and pulled herself to the surface. Her eyes immediately went to Sai and Naruto, but instead of irritation, she laughed. They joined in after they realized she wasn't mad.

"Hey, Sakura!" Shikamaru's voice was heard from the grass near the hiking trail. He was motioning to Shadow and Tank. "They're pretty upset you forgot about them!"

Sakura laughed, and propped her elbows up on the rock to keep her steady. Whistling for the dogs to come over, she smiled as they took off into the water to make their way over to her. Her eyes swept over the area to their friends. Some were on the rocks in the river, some in the water, and some out on the grassy area in-between the hiking trail and the river.

"This has been the perfect morning." Naruto said, having also been admiring the area around them.

"Yeah, the weather is nice, and the water feels good," Sai said, then he grinned. "Not that I intended on getting in the water today."

"Well, I didn't either." Sakura pointed out.

Naruto shrugged when he felt their eyes go to him. "I was fine either way."

Hinata stepped over onto the rock they were on before going into the water, just as Shadow and Tank finally made it over there. The two dogs jumped in, and started towards Sakura. Hinata smiled at the sight. "They are definitely enjoying this."

Naruto focused solely on Hinata now. "You should join us in the water. It feels nice."

Hinata smile and shook her head. "I'll take your word for it."

"I have a proposition for you." Naruto said, a grin appearing on his face.

"What would that be?"

Naruto moved closer to where she was. "I will buy you dinner every night for the rest of this week if you get in the water."

Hinata's smile widened, but she tried to keep it cool and shrug. "I don't know."

"There may or may not be flowers included on some of those nights," Naruto continued, not giving up. "I'll probably switch it off with white chocolate, because I know that's your favorite."

That broke Hinata's "keeping it cool" attitude, and she sat down on the rock before slipping into the water. After she surfaced, she moved her wet hair out of her face, and met Naruto's eyes. "We'll just see how the first dinner goes."

Sakura and Sai watched in silence at how Naruto just smoothly asked Hinata on a date, and finally, they turned their attention away. Sai moving to sit on one of the rocks near them. "So how is it being officially back in the village? You weren't really chatty at Ichiraku's yesterday. Well, you were, but just not about being home finally."

"Well it's been nice," Sakura started, her eyes focused up on the sky. "I missed my pets. I missed training and working at the hospital. I even missed you guys."

Sai chuckled at that last part. "We missed you too..." He trailed off, as his eyes landed on Ino, who was sunbathing on a rock about thirty feet from them. His eyes moved to Sakura. "I'll be back."

"Sure you will." Sakura said, having noticed where Sai's attention was. She turned and focused on the dogs. They were going in and out of the water, and she followed them a little bit away to an area where they had more room to swim around with so many rocks blocking their way. She smiled at how happy they seemed.

"It looks like you're having fun."

Shikamaru's voice popped up almost right behind Sakura, and she jumped a little. Turning around in the water, she smiled at Shikamaru who was sitting on the rock that had been behind her. "I didn't mean to get wet."

"Really? Because you're standing in the river."

Sakura laughed at his words. "I guess you missed my moron teammates pulling me into the water."

"Oh, I didn't miss it. I actually got it on video," Shikamaru said, smirking at her raised eyebrow. "Right place at the right time I guess."

"I'm never going to live that down." Sakura laughed, her eyes moving to Tank who was swimming back over to her. She helped him get up on the rock that Shikamaru was on, and he immediately shook and slung water all over them. He took off after Shadow barking then.

Shikamaru just held out his arms, and met Sakura's eyes. "Now I'm all wet."

"That's what happens with dogs," Sakura said, laughing at Shikamaru's water soaked clothes. "Especially with dogs that have seemingly endless amounts of hair."

"How about you get out of the water, and come hang out with me on land?" Shikamaru asked, a hand reaching out to her.

"Sure." Sakura agreed, taking his hand, but instead of moving to get out, she pulled him in. She smiled when he surfaced. "Oops."

Laughing at her attempt to act innocent, Shikamaru pulled her close, and kissed her. Their kiss was broken when both Shadow and Tank came back over to jump in the water beside them, making them both laugh.

 **Later that evening**

Walking inside his house, Shikamaru put the shopping bags on the counter. Ino and Choji with him, as they were helping him get supplies for the bonfire.

"Since the sun is starting to go down, I will go ahead and get the fire started out back." Choji said, as he moved to go through the sunroom to the backyard.

Yoshino, who was pouring hot water into her cup for some tea, watched her son put some of the groceries in the refrigerator. "I can't believe you're having a party."

"It's not a party mom." Shikamaru replied immediately.

"It kind of is," Ino said, shrugging at Shikamaru's look. "Well just because you and Sakura are calling it a bonfire, doesn't really take away from the fact that it's a party."

Yoshino nodded in agreement with Ino. "You never invite your friends over here."

"That's not true, Choji and Ino are over here all the-"

"They don't really count Shikamaru," Yoshino interrupted, blowing on her tea to try and cool it down a little. "They are more like family than your friends."

Shikaku walked downstairs from putting the last of the camping stuff back in the attic, and his eyes moved to Shikamaru. "Oh is your party starting already?"

While that made Yoshino and Ino laugh, Shikamaru grumbled under his breath, and started towards the sunroom. "I'm going outside to help Choji."

"Told you!" Ino called after Shikamaru, continuing to chuckle along with Yoshino.

 **A couple hours later**

Laughter went up in the air, and Sakura took the opportunity to slip inside with Shadow and Tank. Going through the sunroom and the living room, she filled up the dogs' water bowls to get them to hydrate.

"You're welcome to keep them inside if you'd like," Yoshino's voice was heard, as she walked out the hall from her and her husband's bedroom. "Shikaku and are just watching a movie in our bedroom. But we can keep an eye on your dogs if you want to focus more on your friends."

Sakura smiles as she sat on one of the bar stools and watched the dogs drinking some water. "I don't mind it actually. I've missed them so much this past week, I kind of want to be around them non-stop… I want to be around Baby too, but she's still pretty pissed that I left her for a week and doesn't want much to do with me."

Yoshino laughed and leaned against the counter across from the bar. "Well I don't want to assume anything with your relationship with Shikamaru, but if we all get to go camping with each other again next year, you should bring the dogs with us. I'm sure they'd love it."

"They probably would enjoy it."

"Enjoy what?" Shikamaru's voice hit their ears first, then he walked in from the sunroom.

Yoshino offered her son and Sakura a smile. "Try not to burn down the backyard. Shikaku and I are probably going to bed once the movie is over in a few minutes."

"I'll try my best not to," Shikamaru said, waiting until his mom walked back to her bedroom, then he focused back on Sakura. "Enjoy what?"

"We were just talking about Shadow and Tank, and how they would enjoy going camping with us next time," Sakura said, her eyes going over to the dogs who were now laying on the floor, panting and cooling down in the air conditioning. "If there is a next time that is."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "I want there to be a next time… Do you want there to be a next time?"

"Yes of course I do. When your mom first brought it up, she said she didn't want to assume anything about our relationship, and I guess I can understand why," Sakura said, as she shrugged. "It's not like I'm expecting us to break up and not be together around this time next year. But, to be honest, I've never had a relationship that lasted this long."

"Well never really had an actual official relationship, so you've done better than me," Shikamaru smirked at how that made her laugh, and he reached over to take one of her hands. "I know we've only officially been in a relationship for not even two full weeks yet, and it's really early to be thinking about our future. But honestly, I want this to last. I want to think that this time next year, we'll still be together."

"Me too." Sakura agreed, leaning over to kiss him. When they broke apart, she sighed. "We should probably go back outside."

"Do we have to go?"

Laughing at his words, Sakura shook her head. "You're having fun. Don't pretend that you're not."

"I mean I guess it's not the worst thing that we're having a party with our friends-"

"Oh!" Sakura interrupted, a big smile on her face. "You said party! Finally!"

"What?" Shikamaru asked, confused at her excitement.

"I bet with Ino that you would admit that this was a party before the end of the night, and she bet that you wouldn't," Sakura explained quickly, before her smile turned to a grin. "I just got out of having to go to rounds early tomorrow morning."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at that. "Haven't you missed being at the hospital?"

"Yes, but with Ino doing my rounds for me, that means I get to go schedule a surgery instead. Which is a lot more fun."

"I can't relate to that being fun, but okay."

Sakura got off the bar stool, and wrapped her arms around him. "But you see, this also means that I don't have to leave so early in the morning, so if after the bonfire you wanted to come over to my apartment..."

At Sakura trailing off, Shikamaru caught on and smirked. "This is becoming more fun now that I think about it."

* * *

 **A/N: Post camping day was pretty relaxed. I think my favorite scene was when they were out hiking. Also, Naruto finally asking Hinata to dinner was my favorite. What was your favorite scene?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

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	6. Concerned For Her

_Review:_

" _I can't relate to that being fun, but okay."_

 _Sakura got of the bar stool, and wrapped her arms around him. "But you see, this also means that I don't have to leave so early in the morning, so if after the bonfire you wanted to come over to my apartment..."_

 _At Sakura trailing off, Shikamaru caught on and smirked. "This is becoming more fun now that I think about it."_

* * *

 **A week later, August 1st**

"I'm glad this mission is finally over," Sakura said, leaning back against her chair, and popping a chip with salsa in her mouth. "I'm ready to go home."

"We've only been gone four days," Sai told her, taking a sip of his beer, then grabbing a chip. "You act like we've been gone weeks."

"Well it must be having to spend those four days listening to you and Naruto argue that makes it seem like forever." Sakura shot back. Eying the surroundings of the patio of the bar and grill they were at for dinner.

"We have not been arguing for days."

"She was being sarcastic, idiot." Sai shot back before Sakura could say anything.

"Don't call me an-"

"Perfect!" Sakura interrupts Naruto as the waitress came over with her margarita. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," the waitress smiled back at Sakura. "You're food will be out shortly."

Taking a long drink from her margarita, Sakura sighed happily. "This is worth it."

Sai brought his hands back behind his head, and leaned back against his chair. "It's been nice being out of the village."

Naruto dipped a chip in salsa, as his eyes went to Sakura. "Sakura probably doesn't think so, because Shikamaru isn't here."

Nodding along with Naruto, Sai smirked. "Yeah, all you do is want to be around him."

"Um, I'm not going to apologize for wanting to spend time with my boyfriend. That's the whole point of being in a relationship," Sakura replied, shaking her head at the other two smirking. "You want to spend time with the other person."

"All the time?" Sai asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well I don't want to spend less time with him," Sakura shot back, then sighed and shook her head. "You two idiots don't understand, because neither of you want to admit the fact that you feel the same way about Ino and Hinata."

Naruto and Sai didn't say anything in response to that, as they averted their eyes from Sakura.

Smirking as that clearly made them uncomfortable, Sakura took a sip from her margarita. "Yeah, neither of you will take that next step to start relationships with them, so you won't get it until you do."

"I'll have you know that I did ask Ino out," Sai replied, finally meeting Sakura's eyes again. "Like an official one."

That clearly took Sakura and Naruto both off guard. Sakura gaining a smile on her face. "Really?"

Sai nodded back at her. "Yeah it was supposed to be before we went on this mission, but then Tsunade moved up our mission timeline. So now we're going to go out once I get back to the village."

It was quiet for a moment, then Sakura laughed. "Finally, you're taking an actual step."

Naruto leaned over to Sai. "So how exactly did you go about asking her out on a date?"

"Well it was on an off-day for training- wait a second," Sai stopped, his eyes narrowing in Naruto's direction. "I'm not going to tell you so you can just use the same method on Hinata."

Sakura laughed at their glares at each other, and sipped her margarita again. "In case I haven't told you two lately; I love you two morons."

Their food arrived at the table, and as focus went to that, Sakura took a moment to enjoy the atmosphere. _Since the sun is going down, it's finally cooling off. A nice Summer night._

 **The next day**

"We've got another day of travel ahead of us, and I don't want to keep breaks every other hour."

"Sakura, it's really hot out." Naruto complained after she stopped talking, taking a long sip of his water.

"Yeah, and it's not really safe for us to continuously go for hours without taking breaks in this heat." Sai added grumbling.

Sakura glared in their direction. "Um hello?! I'm a doctor, and I am very much aware of that fact. But we are trained to work longer hours, even in this heat. It's cloudy for one thing, we are moving in the shade of the trees, and we can drink water as we go. Just because you and Naruto don't know how to properly hydrate doesn't change that."

Instead of replying, Naruto and Sai grumbled, and didn't say anything more.

"Five minutes, then we are leaving and not taking a break until we reach the town at the border of the Earth Country." Sakura told them, taking a sip of water then she set her bag down. Turning away, she took some steps away to try to relax. Traveling with Naruto and Sai has always been a challenge when Kakashi and Yamato didn't go on a mission with them. Usually she would leave Naruto and Sai's complaints to them, but since she was the one in charge when Yamato and Kakashi weren't there, it all fell on her.

Feeling something hit her from behind, Sakura was quick to take the impact and roll forward. Once standing back up, she turned around and caught the hand of a faceless someone dressed all in black. "Naruto! Sai!"

Her teammates were already in action, as the little clearing they were in flooded with foreign ninja. Sakura took down two people with chakra filled punches, a third with a lightning jutsu, and a fourth with her katana. She re-sheathed the katana, and moved over to assist Sai who was surrounded. They took down those people, and she met his eyes. "I need you up in the air. See how many more there are."

"Got it!" Sai called, quickly using his jutsu to create a bird to take him up in the air.

Sakura felt herself being hit on the shoulder, but Naruto's rasengan took the person down.

"You okay?" Naruto asked, taking her back, as they eyed the remaining ninja around them.

"I'll be fine, it was only a light hit," Sakura replied back quickly, as she summed her chakra back to her fist. Preparing herself to make a hit to the ground to disable the ninja in front of her. "Let's do this."

When the smoke cleared from her punch, Sakura couldn't sense anymore ninja in front of herself, and she turned to Naruto. Seeing he disabled the last of the one's on his side, her eyes moved up to the sky. "Sai!"

After a moment of silence, Sai's bird flew above them, and he peeked over the side. "There is no one else that I can see."

Sakura took in a deep breath, and her hand moved to her shoulder. Releasing her healing chakra to tend to the area where she got hit, she watched as Sai landed his bird. "You guys can't tell anyone about this."

 **A couple days later**

Bringing her hand to her face, Sakura sighed heavily. They had got back to the village an hour ago, and she barely got through the mission brief when Naruto and Sai let it slip about getting attacked the first day they were traveling back. So the past half hour she had been getting scolded by Tsunade for not only not saying anything right when it happened, but also not right when they got in the village.

"Honestly Sakura, I am getting sick and tired of you not bringing things like this to my attention as soon as they happen-"

"Why in the hell would I want to do that?" Sakura interrupted, dropping her hand from her face so she could look at Tsunade. "So I could subject myself to more of these lectures about my safety?! No thank you!"

"It's not only that, you're making your teammates lie for you. That's not healthy team behavior-"

"Oh for goodness sake, that obviously didn't even work! They told you didn't they?!" Sakura exclaimed, before she yelled irritably. "I can't trust them with anything apparently, and that isn't really healthy team behavior either."

"Sakura-"

"You know what? We're not going to keep doing this," Sakura interrupted Tsunade. "Yes, we were attacked, but good news is that we are all fine. I know you and my parents like to panic everytime that happens, but it's not the end of the freaking world. It's not like I'm twelve and can't take care of myself."

"Yet you don't mention when stuff like that happens-"

"It wasn't apart of the mission technically, why would I bring it up?" Sakura interrupted, her eyes narrowed.

"That doesn't matter. You know what? If you would just act like a grown up and tell me when things like this happen, then maybe you wouldn't be treated like your a child. Instead, you choose to try and hide it."

"Well after having to live through years of you and my parents being annoyingly overprotective, I wonder why I turned to just trying to leave you all out of it!" Sakura countered, then she turned to leave the office.

Both Naruto and Sai who had remained silent during all of this stepped out of her way, then proceeded to follow her outside the Hokage Tower.

"Sakura-"

"Stop speaking to me." Sakura interrupted Sai as they left the Hokage Tower and started down the stairs.

The silence only lasted until they reached the bottom of the stairs, and Naruto reached out and grabbed her arm to get her to stop. "Come on Sakura, we-"

"Hey," Hinata's voice interrupted Naruto, as she and some of their friends approached. A smile on her face in Naruto's direction. "I thought you weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow."

"The mission went by quicker than we thought." Naruto said, a smile on his face until he felt Sakura snatch her arm away from his hand.

Hinata raised an eyebrow at Sakura's irritated expression. "You're in a bad mood."

"I'm going home-"

"No Sakura," Ino's voice interrupted Sakura, as she, Shikamaru, and Choji approached. "We just got back from training, and we should all catch up and go out to eat."

"Catch up? We've only been gone for barely six days," Sakura said, then she motioned to Sai. "And aren't you supposed to be going on a date with Sai or something like that?"

"Sakura!" Sai exclaimed, a frown on his face.

"I'm sorry, are you all of a sudden concerned that I'm blabbing your business to other people?" Sakura questioned, her eyes narrowed. "Gee, I wonder what that feels like."

It was quiet as Sakura and Sai glared at each other. Kiba was the first to break the silence by laughing. "What's with you two?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, and laughed nervously. "Sakura's just mad because Sai and I told Tsunade that the people who have been after Sakura attacked us on our way home from our mission-"

"What?!" Hinata and Shikamaru chorused.

Shikamaru moved closer to Sakura, his hand going to her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sakura slipped away from Shikamaru's hand. "It wasn't a big deal-"

"Sakura," Hinata interrupted, her hands on her hips. "What happened?"

"I'm fine. We are all fine," Sakura repeated, as she sighed. "Can we just move on and forget it?"

"No." Shikamaru said at the same time as Hinata scoffed.

Sakura became noticeably more irritated at that, and she turned away from them to face the others. "I need someone to hang out with who is not my boyfriend, my best friend- oh and Naruto and Sai, because I want to murder them."

Sai and Naruto stepped away from Sakura, and the others were silent.

"I volunteer Neji," Sakura said, her eyes going to Tenten. "I'll have him back to you in an hour or two."

While Neji's eyes went to Tenten in a way that suggested for her to say no, Tenten only smiled at Sakura. "Have a great time. I think I'll go and do a little target practice."

Neji sighed heavily. "Thanks Tenten."

Knowing he was being sarcastic, Tenten laughed and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "You're very welcome."

Ten minutes later, Sakura and Neji were seated in their usual bar. Sakura taking a sip of her beer, and sighing heavily. "Everyone is annoying right now."

"That sounds a little ridiculous." Neji told her, chuckling at her narrowed eyes.

"What?"

"You're annoyed with your friends that are only caring about your well-being."

"No it's annoying that they immediately jump to panic," Sakura sighed again. "They didn't even give me a second to say that it was all good, and it was taken care of."

"To be fair, they did ask."

"But then they panicked," Sakura brought her head to rest on her hand. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's just annoying. I can take care of myself, and they should know that by now. Just because they are emotionally attached to me doesn't change that fact."

"I get your point," Neji started, getting Sakura to look back at him. "You should understand that it's only because of the fact that they are so close to you that they are more concerned."

Sakura shook her head. "Well you and I are friends, and you didn't act like they did."

Chuckling, Neji shrugged back at her. "Well our friendship is different than the others. Usually, when we hang out, it's in a bar."

"Fair enough… Maybe I should be friends with people who will only hang out with me in bars."

"You know this was never my idea to start going to bars to hang out," Neji replied, a smirk growing on his face. "But I guess, at this point, it is kind of our thing now."

"I never really thought about it, but I guess you're right," Sakura said, then she scowled. "Back to my problems now. What's more frustrating than my overprotective friends, is my overprotective boyfriend. I never thought Shikamaru would be the overprotective type."

Neji hummed lowly at that. "I don't know. Shikamaru being concerned for you isn't really overprotective. If he was always like that over every little thing you did, then that'd make him overprotective."

"He doesn't need to be worried-"

"Let me put it this way," Neji interrupted, sipping his beer, as his eyes met hers. "I'd probably be the same way with Tenten. I know very well that Tenten can take care of herself, but that wouldn't stop me from being concerned about her if she did get attacked. I may not immediately jump to panic, but to be fair, Tenten isn't a danger magnet like you are."

Sakura smiled finally. "That is fair."

Neji chuckled, as he watched her smile. "Even if you weren't, concern for the other person is just part of being in a relationship. I'm sure you would be just as concerned if something happened to Shikamaru."

"I guess that's true..." Sakura trailed off, as she sipped her beer again.

 **An hour and a half later**

Sakura is going up the stairs to her apartment complex, and when she finally got to her floor she raised an eyebrow as she noticed Shikamaru walking to her door. "Wow, what a coincidence?"

Turning to face her, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, his hands slipping his pockets. "Just getting back from hanging out with Neji?"

"Yeah, we went to a bar, and I was getting a little buzzed so I thought it'd be best that I go home," Sakura replied, fumbling with her keys for moment, before she opened her door. Right away, Shadow and Tank were trying to get attention, and at her motion left outside to go do their business. She turned away from her open front door, and moved over to the railing. Waiting for Shadow and Tank to finish going down the stairs, before she could see them. Her eyes moved to Shikamaru, and she reached over to rest her hand on his that was on the railing. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so angry and walked away earlier. In my defense, you and everyone else was kind of getting on my nerves."

"Okay..." Shikamaru trailed off, a smirk growing on his face.

"Just before we ran into you all, I had spent an hour being lectured by Tsunade, because Naruto and Sai snitched on me. So I was really already irritated before we ran into you guys," Sakura explained, then she leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Really though, I'm okay. The attack was over quickly, and no one got hurt. I know you were just being concerned… Sometimes I just feel like people don't believe in me to take care of myself when they get so..."

"Concerned for your well-being," Shikamaru offered, chuckling when she nodded. He reached a hand up to her face, as he kissed her. "For the record, I know you can take care of yourself. I've seen you take down an army of people. There's no doubt in my mind that you can be okay. I just am-"

"Concerned for my well-being," Sakura interrupted, laughing along with Shikamaru, before they kissed again. "Neji pointed out that apparently, that's what happens when you are in a relationship. Being concerned for the other person that is. Who knew?"

That made Shikamaru laugh, as Sakura had turned to pick up Baby who had made her way to the front door. Feeling like things were back to normal between them, he motioned towards her apartment. "Now can we please watch a movie or something? I haven't seen you in six days."

"Sounds good to me," Sakura goes as she whistled for the dogs to come back up. She could hear the sound of them both barking then coming up the stairs. Her eyes met Shikamaru's again. "I'll make the popcorn if you pick out the movie."

 **A couple days later**

"I'm going to die."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"Sakura, you're being dramatic."

"When am I not being dramatic Hinata?" Sakura countered. Following her best friend around another rack of clothing. She, Hinata, Ino, and Tenten were out shopping at the mall.

"That's very true," Hinata agreed, as she sighed heavily. Stopping at a rack, she shifted the clothes she was going to try on to her other arm, and started sifting through the rack. "You know, if you really didn't want to go, you could have just stayed home and met up with us after an hour or two."

"We all agreed to hang out this afternoon, so I figured that meant we'd do more than just shopping," Sakura replied, then she shrugged. "I did suggest we do something else."

"Going to a bar at one in the afternoon isn't exactly everyone's cup of tea," Hinata pointed out, as she looked up when Ino and Tenten walked over. "Found anything good."

"Tons," Ino replied, as she held up an arm full of clothes to go try on. Her eyes went to Sakura, and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't find anything?"

"I don't want to be here." Sakura replied, then she crossed her arms and looked to Tenten, who was browsing the same rack as Hinata. "And why do you all of a sudden like to go shopping? You used to be on my team."

That brought a smile to Tenten's face. "I don't exactly like going shopping."

Ino scowled at Tenten's words. "But you do have a boyfriend, and it's nice to get new clothes every once in a while. So when you go out on a date or hanging out, you don't want to wear the same clothes that you've had for _years_."

Sakura, knowing that Ino was indirectly talking about her, smirked at the blonde. "I don't wear the same clothes for years Ino. It seems that you all have forgotten that we all went shopping at the end of May for Summer clothes. Why do we have to go shopping again now?"

"Because it's August, and there are new clothes out now. You can never have enough options." Ino shot back, her eyes going to Sakura, as she shrugged.

"I can have enough…" Sakura mumbled under her breath irritably.

"I'm not just buying new clothes because of Neji," Tenten said in order to get the conversation back to something more positive. "My brother is in town with his new girlfriend, and Neji and I are joining them and my parents for dinner tonight. I thought it'd be nice to have something new to wear."

Leaning back against the one bare space of wall near them, Sakura sighed heavily. "I just didn't realize people do things like that."

"Your birthday is at the end of the month," Ino reminded, propping her free hand on her hip. "Don't you want new clothes for that?"

"I still have plenty of clothes in my closet that I haven't worn that much-"

"You're hopeless," Ino interrupted, as she turned to walk away. "I'm going to go try on these clothes."

Straightening up, Sakura looked to Hinata and Tenten. "Cool, so I'm leaving to go to a different store that doesn't have clothes in it."

"Okay, well we're meeting up for lunch in an hour. The new Italian place down the street." Hinata reminded, as she and Tenten went to follow Ino over to the dressing rooms.

Walking out of the store, Sakura's mood lifted considerably. She walked down to the end of the mall where one of the few stores she actually liked in the mall was located. _Candles._ Once inside the store, she was greeted with beautiful displays, and so many wonderful smells. Starting at one end of the store, she planned on smelling every candle they had. _You can never have enough candles._

"Saki!"

Sakura smiled as she set down the candle she was smelling. Turning around just in time to catch her golden blonde haired goddaughter, who had ran over to her. "Whoa, be careful, there is a lot of glass in here."

"There she is," Misaki's voice was heard, before she and Daitaro walked into the store. Pushing Hiro's stroller, and stopping nearby. "Sakura."

"Misaki," Sakura said, smiling back at Misaki, as she finished her long dramatic hug with Sachi. "What are you all doing today?"

"Well we're just having to pick up some new clothes for the kiddos," Misaki replied, her hand motioning to some of the bags she and Daitaro were holding. "Hiro grows out of his clothes like crazy, and Sachi seems to be doing the same this Summer. What about you?"

Sakura sighed, but kept a smile on her face. "Well I was with Hinata, Ino and Tenten, but then I left to come here. Because at least here I have some happiness."

Daitaro smirked at her words. "You and Misaki have a candle addiction..." He trailed off, as his eyes went to Misaki, who was smelling a candle. "We don't need anymore candles Misaki. We have over 20 in our house."

Misaki paused in smelling the candle. "Sakura has over 30, so we're still doing good."

"It's not a competition." Daitaro reminded, shaking his head at how that didn't stop Misaki from smelling the candles anyways.

"Saki?" Sachi started, as she reached up for Sakura's hand to get her attention. "Can I stay here with you?"

"Honey," Misaki started to get her daughters attention. "Are you sure you're done picking out your new clothes? I thought you wanted to go to that little boutique with the flowers in the window?"

Sakura chuckled, as she brought her hand up to the top of Sachi's head. "I don't mind taking her. It's my job as her godmother to spoil her, remember?"

Daitaro smirked and shook his head. "I didn't realize that was apart of the arrangement."

Nudging Daitaro's side, Misaki offered a smile Sakura's way. "Okay, well don't buy her too much Sakura. She'll grow out of all them by the time next Summer rolls around."

"We'll see," Sakura said, smiling as that made Sachi laugh. "Oh actually, it would be kind of perfect if we could turn this little afternoon hangout into a sleepover tonight. I just picked up that new Disney movie that-"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Sachi exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

"Shhh." Both Daitaro and Misaki shushed their daughter to keep her from startling other people who were shopping.

"I could watch Hiro too. It could give you two a night off."

With that said, Daitaro smiled at Misaki. "It would be nice to take you out for dinner and a movie."

Smiling back at Daitaro, Misaki nodded once. "Alright, but we are probably going to take Hiro home now, as he needs to finish his nap. You can come by and grab him in a couple hours, and grab some pajamas for Sachi too. She'll probably need her nap as well."

"I'm not even tired." Sachi told her mom.

"We'll see about that," Sakura said, nudging Sachi to remain still as she was getting closer to the candle display. Her eyes went back to Misaki and Daitaro. "We'll see you in two or three hours."

It wasn't until after Misaki and Daitaro left with Hiro that Sachi turned to face her godmother. "Are you going to buy some candles?"

"I might pick out two or three," Sakura replied, offering her goddaughter a smile. "Let's see which ones we like the best, then we can head down to get you some clothes at that little boutique. Then we can go meet Hinata, Ino, and Tenten for lunch."

"Yay- ooo that one looks pretty." Sachi got distracted at the sight of a bright pink candle with a sparkly lid.

Smiling at Sachi's laughter, Sakura moved over to smell the candle along with Sachi. _My day just got better._

 **Later that night**

As the credits started to roll, Sakura's eyes moved down. Hiro had fallen asleep snuggled up on her chest, and Sachi's eyes were drifting closed from where she was beside on the couch. Her head currently resting on Shadow. Tank was laying on her feet. _This turned out to be a really nice day. I love spending time with Sachi and Hiro._ A knock on the door caught her attention. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Shikamaru, and as soon as he met her eyes, his eyebrow raised. "It's almost nine p.m., you should have your door locked. I could have been a murderer."

"Don't joke because I have had people intrude in my apartment before," Sakura replied, then she chuckled. "I was planning on locking it, but I'm kind of trapped."

Shikamaru smiled as he walked closer to see where the kids and animals were keeping Sakura trapped. Baby was the only one not by Sakura, as she was perched on the coffee table. "I figured that the ice cream I brought over earlier would have Sachi bouncing off the walls until midnight."

"Well I told her to save some for tomorrow, so that helped a little," Sakura replied, as she slowly moved to stand up. She was trying not to wake up Hiro. Once she successfully got up, she walked back to her bedroom to put Hiro in the foldable crib she had set up. Returning back to the living room, she started picking up dishes from their dinner/dessert, as her eyes went to Shikamaru, who was sitting at the bar now. "It was very nice of you to bring the ice cream by, and also let me cancel our date so I could hang out with the kids."

"I try." Shikamaru replied jokingly.

Once she had put the dishes in the dishwasher, she raised an eyebrow, as she noticed Shikamaru was wearing work clothes. "You have a mission?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru started, waiting for her to walk around the counters to sit on the barstool next to him. "My team is about to head over to the Hidden Waterfall Village to drop of some paperwork from the Hokage. It is supposed to be dropped off tomorrow morning, but the Hokage was waiting on last minute signatures from some of the council to be able to officially send it off. So now we're essentially like express shipping."

Laughing at how he said that, Sakura reached over to rest her hand on his. "When will you be back?"

"Probably tomorrow evening if everything goes well."

"Well maybe we can reschedule our date for tomorrow night then. Of course, if you end up too tired, then we can just make our date watching movies in bed." Sakura suggested, smiling as Shikamaru leaned over and kissed her.

"That sounds great to me," Shikamaru agreed after they kissed, and he looked down at his watch. "I should probably get going. My team should be meeting up at the gate right about now, and I just wanted to come by to say goodnight."

"Okay, be careful." Sakura said, before they kissed a few more times. She walked with him over to the door, and they kissed again before he finally left. After closing the door, she sighed and locked it up. Turning back to the couches, she smiled at the sight of Sachi asleep, and the dogs both looking her way. "Time for bed."

* * *

 **A/N: The people who have been after Sakura finally showed up again, but she took care of them quickly. She also learned a little something about how relationships work apparently lol. I enjoyed writing the scene with Sakura and her team eating in the beginning, and the scene with Sakura and Neji at the bar. What was your favorite scene?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**

 **Also be sure to check out my blog: ruby1235fanfiction. blogspot .com (no spaces)**


	7. Preparing For The Birthday Trip

_Review:_

" _Well maybe we can reschedule our date for tomorrow night then. Of course, if you end up too tired, then we can just make our date watching movies in bed." Sakura suggested, smiling as Shikamaru leaned over and kissed her._

" _That sounds great to me," Shikamaru agreed after they kissed, and he looked down at his watch. "I should probably get going. My team should be meeting up at the gate right about now, and I just wanted to come by to say goodnight."_

" _Okay, be careful." Sakura said, before they kissed a few more times. She walked with him over to the door, and they kissed again before he finally left. After closing the door, she sighed and locked it up. Turning back to the couches, she smiled at the sight of Sachi asleep, and the dogs both looking her way. "Time for bed."_

* * *

 **Three weeks later, August 26th**

Breaking her kiss with Shikamaru, Sakura sighed. They had both been on their breaks from training and had met up halfway in-between their two training grounds. It was a little clearing by the river. "We need to get back."

"I'm all for not going back to training, and doing more of this." Shikamaru replied, kissing her again.

"We're not going to be training at all next week," Sakura reminded when their kiss broke again. "We need to get all the training time in now that we can."

Shikamaru's response was to kiss her again, and this time after breaking away he sighed. "I guess you're right… I didn't realize your birthday was a week-long event."

"Well, I am the center of attention," Sakura said, smiling as that made Shikamaru laugh. "It's more of a week and a half. My cousins, siblings, friends and I go down to the beach for about three days and my birthday, then we go up to my the lake house for about 6 or 7 days to visit with my extended family. It's kind of been a tradition to go to the beach since I turned fifteen. Before then I would just go up to the lake."

"Why the beach though?"

"Because alcohol duh," Sakura replied, laughing. "My parents are okay with me drinking now, but fifteen was too young in their eyes apparently… Anyway, I'm excited you're going with me this year. I've never brought a guy on my birthday trip before."

"Really?" Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, it may not seem like that big of a deal, but it is. Because that would mean the guy would be meeting my family. Like my extended family, and that has never been done before."

Smirking, Shikamaru leaned over and kissed her. "I'm looking forward to it… and seeing you in a bikini everyday is a plus."

"Thanks," Sakura said, laughing before they kissed again. When it seemed to be getting carried away, Sakura broke their kiss. "Nope, you almost had me, but we have to get going."

Sighing dramatically, Shikamaru let his arm fall from her. "Fine."

 **Back in training**

Slamming her fist into another rock, Sakura smiled as it turned to dust, and turned to see Yamato looking at her with a paled face. "How was that?"

"Your strength is impressive as usual." Yamato said, taking a step back, clearly a little nervous.

"It's more like I've got a lot of anger to get out, and punching things into dust is a stress reliever." Sakura replied and punched a tree this time, and caused it to splinter into thousands of pieces.

Yamato smirked at Sakura. "Really? You just spend your lunch break with your boyfriend, and I don't see how that is stressful."

"How do you know about that?"

"We all know Sakura," Yamato said, using his jutsu to put up more targets for Sakura. "It's not like it's really that much of a secret… Anyway, why are you so angry?"

Focusing on the new targets, Sakura sighed. "Tsunade is being a pain about me leaving the village for a week and a half. Apparently, I'm taking too much time outside the village lately. Which is not fair, because most of the times I was out of the village this month was to go on missions."

Watching Sakura take down two of his targets easily, Yamato created more. "Well, it's clear she obviously misses having you here in the village."

"I know, but she has Shizune for all her administrative stuff," Sakura replied, picking up the pace in attacking the targets. Noticing that caused Yamato to have to be more quick with making new ones. "I mean I still have to manage the hospital, and I'm not always there. Technology is a beautiful thing… What are you and Kakashi going to do with the whole team out of the village for another week this month?"

At the change of subject, Yamato used that to adjust to them sparring. "Kakashi and I are getting an opportunity for some time off as well. You don't think we have social lives?"

Sakura grinned, as she pulled out her katana to block kunai Yamato threw at her. "It didn't necessarily cross my mind."

"Thanks, Sakura." Yamato shot back, as they picked up the spar.

It was quiet for a moment before their weapons hit with a clang again. "Enjoy your time off. Because I'm sure when we come back Naruto's not going to give you guys any time off, and demand we train 24/7."

"You're not wrong." Yamato said, grinning along with Sakura now.

 **Later that evening**

Walking out of the scrub room, Sakura released a very long sigh. However, when she opened her eyes to see coffee being held out to her, she smiled. "Thank you Rena."

"You're welcome," Rena said, walking alongside Sakura as she sipped at her own coffee. "That was a long surgery."

"It was," Sakura agreed, sipping at her coffee again. "But it was successful, and it makes me feel good when I'll be taking the next week or so off. I've been preparing for my birthday the past few days."

"You've got a lot of work done the past few days, I think you should be able to take the week off, and not stress." Rena said as they got in the elevator.

"That's a lot easier said than done. I am made for stress."

Rena smirked at that. "No one knows that better than I do Sakura."

Sakura chuckled, and they got off the elevator at the floor her office was on. "I'll probably come back to the hospital tomorrow evening just to wrap up some last minute things."

"Well you have to come back regardless," Rena said, noticing that made Sakura raise an eyebrow. "The meeting remember?"

"Yes... I don't know why the board all of a sudden wants to start having meetings so late in the day instead of first thing in the morning." Sakura replied, stopping outside her office, as she recognized blonde hair inside her office.

"Oh yeah. Ino's here," Rena said, smiling at how Sakura sighed. "I'll leave you alone, and set up your next surgery."

"Thanks," Sakura replied, taking a long deep breath before she walked into her office. "What's up Ino-"

"Um hello?!" Ino interrupted, glaring at Sakura. "I've been waiting here for ten minutes, and I have to leave in another five. What took you so long to get up here?"

"I was scrubbing out and walking up here- never mind," Sakura said, moving to sit on the other side of the couch than Ino, as she kicked her feet up on the coffee table. "I don't feel like arguing with you, because I have another surgery starting in half an hour and I just want to relax."

Ino was quick to poke Sakura to keep her from closing her eyes. "I have something to tell you."

"Then tell me-"

"Sai and I kissed!" Ino interrupted an excited smile on her face.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you two been dating each other for weeks now?"

Ino scowled at Sakura's lack of excitement. "You know, you and Shikamaru were flirting with each other for several weeks before you two kissed-"

"Not the same thing," Sakura interrupted Ino this time, but waved off her frown. "But continue."

"Yes we've kissed before, but this time was different."

"How so?"

"Sai asked me to make it official, so we're officially dating now," Ino said, unable to help herself as she squealed happily. "We're finally in an official relationship, and I'm so happy."

"It took you two long enough," Sakura said, but she offered a smile to show Ino she was happy about the news. "Now all we have to do is get Naruto and Hinata to stop dancing around each other, and just officially date each other too."

Ino laughed along with Sakura. "Good luck with that. They've been flirting for years at this point."

"I know, at this point, it's kind of hopeless." Sakura added, and the two laughed. A knock on the door was heard, and she smiled when she could see Shikamaru on the other side.

"Okay, I'm going to go ahead and leave," Ino said, standing up from the couch. "I just had to come here to tell you that very important information, then go get dinner with Sai."

Sakura smiled, as she propped her elbow on the back of the couch. "Alright, have fun. Be safe, use protection, all that-"

"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed interrupting her friend. She smirked and shook her head at Sakura's laughter.

"Ino," Shikamaru said, as Ino left the office and he went in. His eyebrow raised at Sakura's laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Sakura replied after her laughter settled, she smiled as he had leaned over to kiss her, before he sat down on the couch. "What's up?"

"Well I was just coming to see what you're up to," Shikamaru said, reaching over to take one of her hands. "You've been practically non-stop working at the hospital the last few days."

Sakura shrugged. "I had a lot to do before I take the next week off. Well, it'll be more than a week, but you know what I mean."

"Since you've been so busy, I haven't got a chance to ask," Shikamaru said, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. "What do you want for your birthday?"

"Oh you don't need to get me anything."

"But I want to get you something. Your birthday is in a few days-"

"Look, it's really not that big of a deal," Sakura interrupted, as she leaned over and kissed him. "I'm just happy that you're going to go with me on my birthday trip."

"I get that, but-" Shikamaru stopped when she had kissed him again. This time when their kiss broke, he sighed but kept a smirk on his face. "You're not going to tell me anything are you?"

"No," Sakura replied, smiling as that made him chuckle. Then she hummed as she got an idea. "There is something you can give me actually."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as she got up and walked over to the door to her office. "Really?"

"Yes really," Sakura replied, closing the blinds over the glass door, then the windows as well. She locked the door, and walked back over to him. Moving so she was straddling his lap, she kissed him once. "I have thirty minutes before I have to go into surgery again, and I need something to pass the time. If you really want to get me something for my birthday, you could help entertain me."

"I can do that." Shikamaru smirked, before they kissed again. His hands slipping up under her scrub top, and he slipped it off over her head.

 **The next day**

Sakura smiled at the sight of Shadow and Tank running around the yard. Her eyes going over to Misaki. "They love having a backyard to run around in."

"I bet they do." Misaki agreed, also smiling at the dogs running around, and over to her daughter. "Sachi sure loves it too."

"So are you all packed up?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, we're leaving in an hour or so," Misaki replied, as she moved to sit down at the table on the patio. "We figured that we can go to your parents house to drop the kids off then head down to the beach with you all. But we're going a day early just so we can settle the kids in before we leave."

"It'll be nice to have you join us down at the beach this year," Sakura said, sitting down as well. "I was so upset that you didn't go last year."

Misaki smirked at Sakura. "I was very pregnant last year, and it wouldn't really have been fun for anyone if I went. Sachi was just about to turn three too, and she was such a handful."

"She isn't now?" Sakura countered, motioning to where Sachi was running wildly around the yard with the dogs, only to stop to draw with chalk on the patio.

"Hey," Daitaro cut in, as he stepped out on the patio from the house. "At least she's coloring with the chalk outside and not inside the house, and I think that's progress."

They all chuckled, and Sakura glanced over to watch Sachi start to play with the dogs again, who had laid down on some of the chalk, and it was now on their fur. _My birthday is coming up in a few days, and I've been dying to go on my annual birthday trip. I can't wait to go the beach. It's been way too long._

"Saki!" Sachi's loud exclamation interrupted Sakura's thoughts. "Want to come color with me?"

"Of course I will," Sakura said, as she got up. "That's the whole reason why I came over here."

Hiro's crying was heard from the baby monitor, and Misaki got up to go get him. Daitaro remained watching Sachi for a moment. "How about I go get us some popsicles, then we can try to color the whole patio with chalk?"

Sachi clapped happily as she giggled. "Yes, popsicles!"

Sakura smiled at Sachi's enthusiasm, and she reached over to pet Shadow and Tank who had come back over. _This is such a nice day._

 **A few hours later**

"I have to go Shikamaru."

"I don't think so." Shikamaru replied, wrapping his arms around Sakura and pulling her back so she was laying back down on his bed.

Somehow wiggling out of his arms, Sakura sat back up. "I have to go to a meeting at the hospital, and I only stopped by to drop of my furbabies so I can just come back here instead of going to my apartment afterward."

"You can just skip the meeting." Shikamaru replied, pulling her back to laying down, but this time he rolled over so he was laying on top of her.

Sakura laughed at his persistence. "Shikamaru."

"You have been busy all day," Shikamaru replied, as he lifted his head up so he could look her in the eye. "You were training this morning, then you went over to Misaki's-"

"I literally just had a thirty-minute dinner with you and your parents." Sakura interrupted, laughing some more as he remained where he was.

"That's only thirty minutes out of your very long day," Shikamaru pointed out. "Then when you get back from the meeting, it'll probably be super late."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "It's literally just a quick meeting with the board, why do you think I'll be home super late?"

Shikamaru was quiet before he finally rolled off of her. "Fine, you can go."

Sakura quickly moved so she was on top of him now. "What do you know?"

Shikamaru was the one to laugh this time. "I know nothing."

Squinting her eyes, Sakura hummed and finally smiled. "You are such a liar."

Pulling her down so he could kiss her, Shikamaru smirked when their kiss broke. "I'm not telling you anything, so you might as well go before I keep you here forever."

"That might not be such a bad idea now that I have a feeling I'm walking into a trap," Sakura replied, getting up from the bed, and smiling at his laughter. "I'll be back later tonight I guess."

Shikamaru smirked as she walked to the door. "Have fun."

Sakura stopped and looked back at him. "What does that even mean?"

"Have fun." Shikamaru repeated, smirking at her laughter, as she left the room.

 **Two in the morning**

Tiptoeing inside the Nara house, Sakura had to be as quiet as possible locking the front door back. She turned a little too quickly and had to catch herself before she would fall. Taking a breath, she moved down the hall to Shikamaru's room, and when she walked in both Shadow and Tank were already alert and wagging their tails at the sight of her. Setting her bag down, she kicked off her shoes and started the process of changing into a t-shirt to sleep. The mixture of alcohol in her system and exhaustion was making the process rather difficult.

"Shit," Sakura mumbled as she tripped over her bag on the way to the bathroom. She quickly turned to motion for the dogs to stay on the bed after that. "Shhh, stay."

Five minutes later she had brushed her teeth and got herself back to the bed, and finally got to lay down. It seemed that all it took was for her to finally relax and be still before there was movement, and Shikamaru's arm slipped around her to pull her closer to him. "Took you long enough."

Turning her head so they could kiss, Sakura chuckled as she laid her head back down. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

 **Several hours later, 9 in the morning**

The alarm going off had both Sakura and Shikamaru reaching over to turn it off, however, Shikamaru was a little quicker in reaching over Sakura to turn the alarm off. He chuckled as she almost immediately collapsed back on the bed after the alarm was off. "Good morning."

"Hi."

At Sakura's barely audible response, Shikamaru smirked, as he rubbed her arm. "How did that meeting go last night?"

"I got really drunk last night." Sakura replied, turning slowly so she was on her back and could see him.

"I noticed." Shikamaru replied, then he kissed her once.

Smiling as Shikamaru chuckled, Sakura brought the blanket up to cover her face. "You knew my friends at the hospital were throwing me a party?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru said, propping his head up with his hand. "My job was to make sure you didn't get there too early."

"And here I thought it was just you wanting to spend time with me." Sakura laughed as that brought Shikamaru to poke her side.

"Of course I want to spend time with you," Shikamaru replied, as he pulled the blanket off her f ace. "However, I thought you'd enjoy the party. Besides, we're going to be able to spend the next week together."

"I know, I can't wait." Sakura smiled, then they kissed again.

When their kiss broke, Shikamaru sat up. "Okay, we have to get up."

"It's early."

"It's nine in the morning, it's not that early."

"I'm dying."

"No, you're hungover."

"What's the difference?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at that question, as he moved to get up to put a shirt on. "If you were dead then you wouldn't have the opportunity to every drink yourself to hangover state again."

"You're not wrong," Sakura replied, moving so she was sitting up, however, she immediately regretted it. "Oh my god."

Watching Sakura's hand go to her head, Shikamaru walked over and brought his hand to her cheek. "You can fight this, I believe in you."

Smiling at that, Sakura reached over for her bag to grab a bra and some shorts. "Thanks for the encouragement."

A few minutes later, they walked out to the living room, Shikamaru met his parents eyes first. "Good morning."

"Good morning you two." Yoshino said, offering a cheerful smile from where she was currently cooking breakfast on the stove.

"Morning..." Sakura mumbled, as she nearly knocked over one of the lamps in the living room after losing balance.

Shikamaru was quick to steady the lamp, and he brought his hands to her shoulders. "Stay right here, and stop trying to move."

Shikamaru had gone over through the sunroom to the back door to let the dogs out. Shikaku chuckled at Sakura yawning. "Was that you coming in at two o'clock this morning?"

Sakura nodded and found herself yawning again. "I tried to be quiet."

"She tried that when she came in my room too," Shikamaru said, as he walked around the counters to go to the coffee maker. "Her trying to be quiet is her knocking stuff over, almost falling over, and cursing several times."

"I am what I am." Sakura replied, turning around and walking back down the hall where Shikamaru's bedroom was.

Shikamaru watched her go, then focused on pouring himself and Sakura coffee.

A knock on the door was heard, and Yoshino looked over. "Oh, it's Neji and Hinata."

"I'll go get the door." Shikaku said as Shikamaru had already started down the hall to his bedroom.

Once back in his bedroom, Shikamaru smirked at the sight of Sakura back in bed. "Excuse me, this doesn't look right."

There was a muffled few words coming from Sakura, followed by a groan, and her moving the pillow over the top of her head.

Chuckling at that, Shikamaru walked over and sat down next to her. "Breakfast is done, and Hinata and Neji are here. It's time to go eat."

Sakura grumbled lowly.

Removing the pillow from her face, Shikamaru smiled at her cracking her eyes open to glare at him. "I made your coffee."

Sakura sighed and stretched her arms up above her head. "My head hurts."

"I know it does," Shikamaru replied, caressing her cheek. "But what will help is to take Tylenol, go eat a lot of food so it'll soak up all that sugar, and that hangover will just go away."

Sitting up finally, Sakura's eyes met Shikamaru's again. "I'm dying."

"I know," Shikamaru said, standing up and taking her hand to get her up as well. "Come on."

Twenty minutes later they were finishing up breakfast, and Shikamaru was eyeing Sakura. "Feeling any better?"

"A little bit." Sakura said, taking another long sip of coffee.

Yoshino finished her breakfast and smiled at her husband. "It's going to be nice to have the house to ourselves with Shikamaru gone."

"Thanks a lot, mom." Shikamaru replied, a smirk on his face.

"We'll miss you of course."

Shikaku grinned after his wife spoke. "Well, only a little bit."

"Shikaku." Yoshino said, however, she still kept her smile on her face, and tried to hide it by drinking some coffee.

"This is just me giving you an idea of the entertainment you'll have over this next week with just the two of us here." Shikaku replied, winking in her direction.

Yoshino chuckled. "I know what I signed up for when we got married nineteen years ago."

"Sakura," Hinata said, laughing all of a sudden, as she was watching Sakura rubbing her temples. "You look like death."

"Thanks," Sakura muttered irritably, just as Baby hissed as Shadow and Tank chased her out of the room, barking away. Sighing heavily, Sakura scowled in the direction of the doorway. "Seriously, they can't just wait until we start traveling to release all this energy. I can't deal with them barking so loudly this morning."

Shikamaru reached over to stop Sakura from getting up to go after the animals. "Don't bother. Satan is able to take care of herself."

"She is not Satan," Sakura replied, settling back in her chair, and propping her head up with her hand. "I feel like I'm going to die."

"That's comforting," Neji said, smirking at Sakura's glare. "How late were you out again?"

"Two in the morning," Sakura replied, her eyes moving to Shikamaru. "I got tricked into attending a birthday party."

"Why are you looking at me? I wasn't the one who planned it." Shikamaru told her.

"But you knew about it, and that's basically like being an accessory to a crime."

Shikamaru chuckled. "I didn't realize that you do something fun is a crime."

"It is when I wake up with this bad of a hangover the next day." Sakura grumbled, but she smiled as the others laughed.

Yoshino focused on Sakura. "So are you all ready for your birthday trip?"

"Uh yeah," Sakura said, as she held Baby in her arms. "Once everyone is ready, we'll head to the gate and meet up with some of our friends, and my older brother and his girlfriend."

"Wait, Misaki and Daitaro aren't coming with us?" Hinata asked, an eyebrow raised.

"They actually went yesterday," Sakura explained, as she set Baby down on the floor. "They wanted to settle the kids in at my parents house. We'll meet up with them there, and they'll travel with us to the beach."

"Back to us leaving," Neji said, as he motioned to the time. "We're supposed to meet the others at the gate in ten minutes."

"Great, I'm not even close to ready." Sakura sighed, getting up from the table and smiling as that made the others laugh. _Beach here were come._

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. We are about to celebrate Sakura's birthday in the upcoming chapters, and I hope you all are ready. We're also going to see Sakura's parents house in the Land of Rivers for the first time. What do you want to see happen on their beach trip?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**


	8. Arriving At The Beach

_Review:_

" _They actually went yesterday," Sakura explained, as she set Baby down on the floor. "They wanted to settle the kids in at my parents house. We'll meet up with them there, and they'll travel with us to the beach."_

" _Back to us leaving," Neji said, as he motioned to the time. "We're supposed to meet the others at the gate in ten minutes."_

" _Great, I'm not even close to ready." Sakura sighed, getting up from the table and smiling as that made the others laugh. Beach here we come._

* * *

 **A few hours later**

As they approached Sakura's parents house, Shikamaru admired the house, as they walked up. It was just outside one of the main villages in central Land of Rivers. The house itself looked huge, and was surrounded by trees and there weren't many any neighbors close by. He was going to ask Sakura more about the house, but they were already heading inside. Sakura's focus had turned to trying to keep dogs from inside the house from getting out.

As the others went further into the house, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow down at the dogs Shadow and Tank were happily sniffing and wagging their tails at. "Who do we have here?"

"Well, this is Charley," Sakura replied, as she was petting an older golden retriever. She then motioned to the two other dogs. "The rottweiler is Max and the yorkie is Callie."

"So this is where your love for animals comes from?" Shikamaru asked, as he offered his hand to Max, before petting him.

"Just a little bit," Sakura said, winking at him, as she set Baby down out of the sling she had been in while they were traveling. She took Shikamaru's free hand, and pointed over to the dining room. "As for the cats."

"Cats plural?" Shikamaru asked, smirking as she nodded, and he focused in and he could just barely see a couple cats under the dining room table.

"The black and grey fluffy one is Tiny, and the brown and black one is Coco."

"Tiny is huge."

Sakura laughed at that. "Yeah, he was tiny when we first got him though."

"Sakura named him." Sora pointed out, as he had come back over pet the dogs.

"I was a very creative child." Sakura replied at the raised eyebrow from Shikamaru, then they both laughed.

As they walked further into the house, they got to the kitchen where Sakura's mother, Midori, was sitting at the kitchen table. "Look who finally has arrived."

"Sorry mom," Sora said, glancing briefly in Sakura's direction, then back at their mother. "It was Sakura's fault."

Sakura's eyes narrowed, and as soon as their mother looked away, she stomped on Sora' foot.

"Ow!" Sora exclaimed, then he glared at Sakura's smirking.

"Oops," Sakura said, chuckling as she looked around. "Where's Gaara and Kankuro?"

"Out back with dad, Daymon, and Daitaro." Temari answered, before focusing back on her separate conversation with Amara.

As her mom started focusing on talking to the others, Sakura took Shikamaru's hand. "I'll show you around if you want."

"Okay," Shikamaru agreed, as they went back towards the front of the house. He smirked as all the animals seemed to be following Sakura. "Wow, I thought it was just your pets, but apparently every animal loves you."

"Well I am amazing," Sakura said, as they stopped in the foyer. "Okay, so really you saw a lot of what's downstairs. The kitchen, living room, and dining room. But my parents room and the laundry room is over by the kitchen."

"What does this hall lead to?" Shikamaru asked, pointing to a hall by the stairs.

"That leads to Gaara and Kankuro's bedrooms," Sakura explained, as she started leading him upstairs. "Originally this house only had four bedrooms. One downstairs for my parents, then three bedrooms upstairs. However, since there were five of us kids, and the older we got, it wasn't really ideal for us to be sharing rooms. Gaara and Kankuro's bedrooms was actually one big room that was meant to be a family room, and my parents had two separate rooms and a Jack and Jill styled bathroom constructed down there."

"I was going to ask if the house was built onto," Shikamaru said, as they stopped at the landing on the top of the stairs. "It's kind of huge from the outside."

"Well a family of seven- well I guess nine, since Misaki and Daitaro have practically been adopted into the family. Then Sachi and Hiro, so eleven-"

"Sakura," Shikamaru interrupted as he chuckled. "I get it. You have a lot of family members."

Laughing along with him, Sakura leaned against the railing at the top of the stairs. "Back to what I was saying before I rambled, because of our obviously growing family, my parents built onto the house. They added two more bedrooms upstairs, on top of the three that were already up there. Along with another bathroom."

"How did they have room for that?" Shikamaru asked, as he motioned over towards the railing that overlooked the living room. "There's so much space over the living room."

"Well, we'll get to this later in the tour, but they also built on more downstairs past the sunroom, so there was room above what they built on downstairs," Sakura said, then she sighed. "I'm going to confuse myself. Anyway, Sora, Temari, Misaki and I have rooms upstairs, and Gaara and Kankuro have the rooms downstairs. The extra room upstairs is typically used by the kids when they are here."

"How long did all that construction take? It sounds like a lot."

"It took a couple years for the full house to be done," Sakura replied then she laughed. "I'm sure it was worth it to my parents to keep all their children separated, because I can tell you that arguments ensued all the time when we had to share rooms."

"So the part that got added on downstairs-"

"Those are the guest bedrooms," Sakura interrupted, as they walked to a room that was third farthest on the right. "Unofficially that's usually where Hinata, Neji, Naruto, and Sai stay when they come over. You can get to those through the sunroom."

As they walked into the room, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as he looked around. "This is your room?"

"What gave it away?" Sakura asked, as she motioned to the pictures on the wall. One of which was of her and Shikamaru from the camping trip they went on with his family.

Shikamaru smiled as he saw that, and he moved closer to her bedside table to pick up another picture. It was of them at the Nara festival. "When did you put these pictures here?"

"I've been back to my parents house at least three times over the past couple months," Sakura pointed out, as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It was usually when you were on a mission, so you wouldn't have noticed."

The door to the room was pushed further open, and a small energy-filled three-year-old barreled her way into the room. "Saki!"

"Hey sweet girl," Sakura said, as she knelt down to hug Sachi. "I was wondering where you were."

Sachi turned to Shikamaru. "Hello."

"It's nice to see you again, Sachi." Shikamaru said, offering her his hand to shake, and smiled as she giggled.

"Do you want to play with me?" Sachi asked them.

Sakura sighed dramatically, and smiled at Sachi. "We would, but unfortunately we won't be staying for much longer."

"Awww." Sachi said, all disappointed.

"But hey," Sakura said, as they started to the door of her bedroom. "When we go up to the lake in a few days, I am all yours."

That seemingly brightened Sachi's spirits, as she took off to the stairs all of a sudden.

"Excuse me!" Misaki's voice was heard, as she walked out of the designated kid's room that was in-between Sakura's room, and the other room on the hall to the right of the stairs. Her voice stopped Sachi in her tracks, and she propped a hand on her hip. "Where are you going?"

Sachi walked slowly back to her mother, and sighed dramatically. "To go take my nap."

"Uh-huh," Misaki said, opening the kids room door again, so Sachi could go in. "I know you think you don't need it, but you need to at least try to take one."

"I'm not even tired." Sachi replied, but complied and went into the kids room to go to her bed.

Misaki watched until Sachi was in bed, then she cracked the kids door. Her eyes went to Sakura and Shikamaru. "She escaped when I was putting Hiro down."

Sakura and Shikamaru both laughed at that, Sakura smiling after her laughter stopped. "We're getting ready to go. We are just trying to get everyone together."

"So in like an hour then?" Misaki asked jokingly, sharing a high-five with Shikamaru.

"Haha, it won't take that long." Sakura replied, shaking her head and smirking at their high-five.

"I'm almost done getting the kids' things settled for your parents, so just let me know when we're leaving." Misaki replied, as she went into the third room on that side of the hall, which was her and Daitaro's room.

As Sakura and Shikamaru went back downstairs, Sakura took him to the sunroom, and she motioned to it. "This is basically the last place on the tour. That hall on the other side of the sunroom goes to the rooms that were also built on."

"That's what you were talking about upstairs," Shikamaru noted as they walked out onto the back porch. Admiring the view around them, Shikamaru whistled lowly. There were mountains in the Northern mountains in the distance, and a pond out back to the right. "This is kind of amazing."

"Really? It just seems kind of normal to me now."

"I mean all this land belongs to your parents. They live close enough to a town for things like groceries, but not close to other people. That's the most amazing concept."

Sakura laughed, as she looped her arm through his. "That would be perfect for you not being surrounded by people… That actually sounds pretty amazing to me too."

They both laughed here, and they were interrupted by a voice exclaiming, "Sakura!"

"Kana!" Sakura exclaimed right back, as she turned and hugged a red-haired young woman. "I'm so glad you're finally here."

"I know," the woman, Kana, agreed as they pulled back from their hug. "I've been looking forward to this trip forever, and I'm so excited."

"We're going to have so much fun!" Sakura laughed as she and Kana hugged again.

Raising an eyebrow at all the laughing and hugging going on, Shikamaru stuck his hands in his pockets. "Who is this?"

"Well-"

"Oh, is this the new boyfriend?" Kana interrupted, as she and Sakura had both turned to Shikamaru.

"Yes." Sakura replied as she smiled in Shikamaru's direction.

"I'm Sakura's cousin, Kana. Well one of her cousins on her dad's side," Kana replied, as she and Sakura shared a look. "It's very confusing to explain this in a way that won't scare him away big our big family."

Sakura grinned. "I have seven cousins on my dad's side, and eight cousins on my mom's side. If you include me and my four siblings in that, then it is just a mess."

"Emphasis on "big" family." Shikamaru smirked, as both Sakura and Kana had laughed.

"Kana actually has a twin brother-"

"We don't talk about my brother," Kana interrupted Sakura quickly. "I like to think I'm an only child."

"Same here." A male voice was heard, before he joined them on the porch. His red hair matched Kana's, and they had the same green eyes as Sakura.

Sakura scowled at the guy. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to the beach with you in case you forgot."

"Did I invite you?"

"I didn't ask for an invitation-"

"Because you wouldn't get one if you did." Kana interrupted, before she and Sakura high-fived.

Kana's brother rolled his eyes, then offered his hand to Shikamaru. "I'm Haru."

Shikamaru shook his hand. "Shikamaru."

Haru's eyes went from Shikamaru to Sakura. "He seems relatively normal. How did you trick him into dating you?"

"Shut up." Sakura bit back.

"Sakura, stop being rude." Her mother, Midori, involved herself in their conversation, as she motioned for Kana and Haru to join her inside the house.

After her cousins left, Sakura sighed at Shikamaru's raised eyebrow. "Haru gets under my skin."

"I'm sure you get under his skin too."

"I'm a nice person, in case you forgot."

Shikamaru laughed at her grumbling. "I know that… So who else is coming on this trip?"

"Well, our friends and my siblings, then a handful of my cousins," Sakura replied, as her eyes swept over to the pond where some of her siblings and dad was. "Just the cousins who are old enough to go. You have to be at least sixteen. That's an unofficial rule though, because I went when I was fifteen. I wasn't supposed to, but I found away around it."

"You asked your dad instead of your mom." Shikamaru guessed, smirking as she nodded. "So only a few of your cousins are older than sixteen?"

"On my dad's side five of those cousins are sixteen, three of them are either married or in a relationship. So that's eight total. Then on my mom's side all of my cousins are older than me, and there are eight of them total. Then five of those eight are married, engaged, or in a relationship," Sakura said, then she waved her hand. "However, most of the ones who are married have kids, and they don't usually go on the trip with us anymore. It's not like it hurts my feelings that they don't go. I mean I'm sure when I have kids, I'll probably skip the beach trip too."

"Misaki and Daitaro are going on the trip though, right?"

"Yes, but that's because I told Misaki that if she didn't go I would never talk to her again," Sakura replied, smirking at Shikamaru's raised eyebrow. "It's different. She's one of my best friends, and I need her to be there with me."

"Right," Shikamaru said, chuckling at her explanation. "I'm going to need a pocket chart to keep up with your family members on this trip."

"I'll get that for you."

"I was just joking-"

"After I say goodbye to the furbabies," Sakura interrupted, as she kissed his cheek. "It'll only take me fifteen to twenty- maybe thirty minutes."

Shikamaru sighed, but he smiled at her. "Take your time."

 **A few hours later**

Grabbing a key from the front desk, Sakura and Shikamaru stepped on the elevator to go up. Shikamaru admiring the view from the glass elevator walls. "This is a nice place."

"It is. We've been staying at it since we've started doing this a few years ago," Sakura replied, following his gaze out the glass wall that showed them the beach. "It's one of my favorite places. However, I've never stayed at a condo here, so this is going to be interesting."

"Do you just get a regular room usually?"

"Yeah, because it usually was just me," Sakura replied, before they got off on the tenth floor. Walking down the hall, they entered their condo and it was a pretty nice setup. There was a small kitchen area, and a bigger living room space. There were two doors, one on the left and one on the right. She took them to the door on the left, and it was a bedroom. "Oh this room is nice. It'll make the hangovers much nicer to recover from."

"Sakura." Shikamaru laughed, as they set their suitcases down. His eyes going to her, as she walked into the bathroom.

"Wow, this bathtub is huge," Sakura said, as she came back out of the bathroom. "That is also another amazing attribute to this room."

"I guess we'll be needing a lifeguard on duty to make sure you don't drown in it when you're ten shots into a bottle of tequila." Shikamaru joked.

"You can have the job," Sakura said, as she walked over and wrapped her arms around him. "As long as you're also in the bathtub with me, and you have to be naked."

"Sakura." Shikamaru chuckled, then they kissed. When their kiss broke, they returned out to the main space and moved out on the balcony. It gave them a view of the ocean. "I'm kind of excited to be doing this."

"Enjoy doing what?"

"To be on a trip together outside of the village again," Shikamaru said, his arm wrapped around her, as he kissed the top of her shoulder. "Just the two of us."

As he continued his kisses up towards her neck, Sakura sighed and smiled. "You know that our friends are also on this trip right?"

"I was trying to forget that part." Shikamaru said, turning her head more so he could kiss her. The door from inside the condo was heard opening again, and they walked back in to see Naruto and Hinata walking in.

"Sorry. We got distracted in the lobby." Hinata apologized, a smile on her face as she had her eyes on Naruto.

"Did you guys see the fish in that tank though?" Naruto asked, walking in with his and Hinata's suitcases.

Sakura smirked at Naruto's wet hair. "Did you fall in it?"

"No!" Naruto exclaimed, a hand quickly going to his wet hair.

"But your hair is wet." Shikamaru pointed out, smirking along with Sakura.

Noticing Naruto's pause, Hinata laughed. "He leaned too far over the tank, and the waterfall part that goes into the tank got him."

Sakura laughed, and Shikamaru remained at a smirk. When Sakura's laughter stopped, she motioned to the room on the left. "Shikamaru and I are staying in this room… I guess that means that you two will be sharing the room on the right."

Both Naruto and Hinata's faces turned a little red at Sakura mentioning that, and Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, it's not a big deal though."

"Yeah." Hinata agreed hurriedly, as she pushed her hair out of her face.

Sakura grinned, as she propped her elbow on the counter top in the kitchen. "Right, sharing a bedroom isn't a big deal-"

"There are two separate beds." Naruto interrupted her quickly.

"I'm sure-"

"Sakura!" Hinata interrupted her quickly, her cheeks burning red, as she turned to go to the bedroom to the right.

It was quiet as Naruto followed after a moment, and Shikamaru turned to raise an eyebrow at Sakura.

"What?" Sakura asked after noticing his look.

"They clearly did not want to talk about that." Shikamaru explained as he reached over to wrap an arm around her waist.

"Well I did," Sakura said, rolling her eyes as she sighed dramatically. "They are so clearly into each other, and it's incredibly annoying with how slow it's taking for them to actually get together."

"It's none of our business." Shikamaru reminded, but shook his head and smiled at the look in her eyes. Leaning over he kissed her cheek, just before she had gone back to their bedroom.

Sakura had come back out of their room with a bottle of tequila in hand, and went to grab some shot glasses. Naruto and Hinata returned back to the main room, and Sakura smiled. "Let's start this trip off right."

"It's starting already." Hinata said, sighing at the sight of Sakura opening the tequila bottle.

"At least it's starting at the beach this year," Naruto said, noticing Shikamaru's look, he shrugged. "Last year, it started off after we walked out the door of her parents house. It took us three times as long to get to the beach than it was supposed to."

Shikamaru laughed at the thought. "That must have been entertaining."

"It was entertaining for us," Sakura said, filling the shot glasses, and sliding them over to the others. "Okay, let's do this."

Hinata sighed heavily as she looked at the small shot glass. "Okay, three, two, one."

They took their shot, and immediately Sakura clapped her hands together afterwards. "Okay, let's go get our bathing suits on and go down to the beach."

 **Later that afternoon**

"Yes, thank you!" Sakura said, accepting her pink lemonade moscato from the waitress, and taking a few sips. "This is so nice."

"I agree," Temari said, taking her drink from the tray as well. Her eyes surveying the white sand that seemed to stretch for miles on either side of them, and the crystal blue water. "This view is always wonderful."

Hinata sighed as she also admired the view. "I could find myself enjoying living near a beach. That would be wonderful."

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know. I like the beach and all, but I think I prefer the forest over sandy beaches."

"Oh yeah, I can see you living in a cabin in the woods someday." Temari said, taking a sip of her own drink.

Misaki grinned at Sakura. "I think it runs in the family."

"True," Hinata agreed, as she motioned to Sakura. "Her parents live in the woods."

Sakura sighed and propped her head on her hand. "I just don't like people that much."

Scoffing, Ino rolled her eyes. "Coming from the person who everyone likes and wants to talk to."

"I'm not naming names, but it sounds like someone is jealous." Sakura said, smirking as that made the others laugh.

Tenten waved off Ino's irritated look, and focused back on Sakura. "For such not a people person, you talk to people all the time. Your a doctor and that requires you to talk to people."

"Of course, the best conversations with Sakura are usually when she's drinking." Hinata added.

"I can confirm." Neji said, smirking as that made the others laugh.

"They are not wrong- Kana where are you going?" Sakura asked, watching her cousin stand up.

"I'm ready to go swimming, after I take my tequila shot." Kana said, as the waitress came back with two shots of tequila.

"Me too," Sakura agreed, finishing off her moscato, before she stood up to join Kana in taking a shot of tequila. After their shots, she slipped of her sandals and cover over, and motioned to the water. "Let's go!"

"Woo!" Kara cheered as they went.

"Where are they going?" Sora asked, as he and some of the male cousins showed up from their game of frisbee.

"Swimming." Misaki replied first.

"Or potentially drowning." Ino added, taking her sunglasses off to look in the direction of Sakura and Kana.

"That's great." Sora replied sarcastically, sighing in the direction of his sister before he and the others left again.

Ino sighed at Sakura and Kana running around in and out of the ocean. "It's starting."

"The spiral squad is at it again." Temari added, laughing along with the others.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Neji leaned over a little. "Whenever Sakura's with Kana, they tend to get a little out of control. Usually, the few days were down at the beach, they spend the entire time drinking."

Naruto waved off Shikamaru's continued raised eyebrow. "Don't worry, they've only been arrested one time, and they dropped the charges."

Shikamaru smirked. "That's not comforting."

"Don't worry," Temari said, her eyes on the ninja-wear magazine she was reading. "We supervise them more closely now."

Watching Temari reading the magazine, then how the others seemed distracted, Shikamaru shook his head. _I don't know how much of watching Sakura and Kana they actually do with how distracted they all are._

Hinata slipped off her shoes and glanced to Naruto. "I'm going to go a little closer to them, and walk down the beach a little. Want to join me?"

"Yeah, of course." Naruto agreed, kicking off his shoes, and pulling off his shirt to go with Hinata.

Shikamaru looked to the others. "I thought Sakura and Kana only had like one drink and a shot of tequila each. Then Sakura had another shot up in the room, but still. It's not that much-"

"I guess you missed the starter shots they took when they met down at the bar in the lobby before you made it down there." Ino interrupted him, laughing along with the others.

After their laughter settled, Tenten stood up and took off her cover over. "I'm going to go join them. This is getting boring."

After Tenten walked away, the guys moved on to go out on the beach more, Ino put her sunglasses back on, and settled back on the chair. "It's too early in the day to get this out of control drunk."

"Right?" Temari agreed, both girls laughing.

"If I drank as much as they did, I would already be on the floor," Misaki said, then she chuckled. "Of course it hasn't helped that since I had Hiro, my alcohol consumption usually only consists of two or three glasses of wine a week."

"Don't worry," Ino said with a shrug. "As long as you don't have any more kids, you'll be back up to Sakura and Kana's level in no time."

Misaki laughed at that. "I don't think I have what it takes anymore."

 **An hour later**

Floating on her back in the water, Sakura stared up at the bright blue sky and sighed. _This is so amazing. I could just stay here all day, and not have anymore cares in the-_ Finding herself being pushed underwater, she quickly resurfaced to find Shikamaru next to her, laughing. "Shikamaru!"

Trying to stop his laughter, Shikamaru had to dodge her hand. "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"That's such a lie." Sakura said, laughing along with him this time, as she moved closer.

Wrapping his arms around her, Shikamaru leaned his head down and kissed her. "I was just making sure you weren't dead."

"Fair enough." Sakura replied with a laugh.

"I also want you to know that I'm not here to have fun. Just to protect you from yourself," Shikamaru said, smirking at her raised eyebrow. "According to everyone here, you need lifeguard supervision. I figured Hinata could use a break."

Sakura wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him. "I'm very much okay with that."

 **Dinner that night**

"Okay this has been the best trip we've had so far," Sakura said, then she laughed. "It's only the first day, but still. It's been so much fun."

Kana grinned, as she motioned to the margarita pitcher they had just finished. "This certainly helps."

"For sure," Sakura agreed, smiling as the others were distracted by the waitress coming back to the table. Her eyes went to Shikamaru next to her. "Did you have fun today?"

"You mean did I enjoy watching you spiral out of control at the beach?" Shikamaru countered, smirking at her eye roll. "Yes, I did. You've asked me that at least three times so far this evening."

"I just want to make sure you are having a nice time." Sakura replied with a shrug.

Shikamaru rested his hand on hers. "It's your birthday trip. You're supposed to be the one who is having a great time, the whole time."

Sakura's smile returned to her face. "I mean anytime with alcohol is a great time, and the beach part is just a bonus," she said, laughing along with Shikamaru. Her focus went to the waitress who had just asked if they wanted dessert. "Absolutely, and another margarita pitcher would be great."

"Yes!" Kana exclaimed, as she and Hana high-fived. Her eyes going across the table to Ino. "Come on you have to join us this time."

Ino sighed, but she smiled. "I'll have one. Someone needs to be mostly sober to make sure none of you do something stupid like going to the beach and drowning in the ocean."

"That's specific." Shikamaru said, raising an eyebrow and smirking at Ino.

"You have no idea." Ino replied, shaking her head.

"She's being dramatic." Sakura said at Shikamaru's look. Her focus going over the railing on the patio of the restaurant they were at to see the sun had mostly gone down, and the beach was just barely illuminated. _This is going to be a great trip. I'm excited for what's to come over the next few days._

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 **A/N: What are you looking forward to during Sakura's birthday weekend? Also I am aware that Sakura's birthday is not actually the day I end up choosing for it. I changed it for fanfiction purposes.**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**


	9. Sakura's Birthday

**A/N: I just want to point out again that yes, I know Sakura's birthday is not actually on August 30th. I changed it for this fanfiction.**

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 _Review:_

" _That's specific." Shikamaru said, raising an eyebrow and smirking at Ino._

" _You have no idea." Ino replied, shaking her head._

" _She's being dramatic." Sakura said at Shikamaru's look. Her focus going over the railing on the patio of the restaurant they were at to see the sun had mostly gone down, and the beach was just barely illuminated. This is going to be a great trip. I'm excited for what's to come over the next few days._

* * *

 **The next day, August 29th**

Moving forward a little in line, Sakura whistled at how high up they were. "This seems a lot higher than when we went on this water slide last year."

"It's the same as it was last year." Temari noted, as she and Tenten were both supporting the huge float they would be going down the water slide on.

"You just had more alcohol in your system." Tenten added when Sakura shook her head.

"You're not wrong," Sakura accepted easily, as they got to the top of the water slide. The attendant set their float on the slide, and held it as they all got in. Once she was settled on her side, her eyes moved over to Kana, who was across from her. "I don't even remember half of this water park from last year."

"Same." Kana agreed.

Their float was pushed down the water slide by the attendant, and what was only forty-five seconds seemed like the longest and thrilling ride in the park. When they were pushed out the bottom of the water slide, they were laughing as they went. "See this is fun."

Temari raised an eyebrow at Sakura's words. "You haven't been having fun at all today?"

"No I have," Sakura said, as they got out of the water. "It's just the other girls all wanted to lay out by the ocean all day, and they are missing out on all this fun."

"I could understand if they were drinking or whatnot," Tenten agreed, wringing water from her hair. "They are just sitting there talking or reading. That gets boring pretty quickly."

Sakura looped her arm through Tenten's, as the four of them walked away from the water slide. "I can't lay out that long."

"So where are we headed next?" Kana asked.

"I'm actually thinking about going to the bar, and maybe float around the lazy river for a while." Temari replied, her eyes going across the water park to where the bar was.

"I think I'll do that as well," Kana said, her eyes going to Sakura and Tenten. "You two in?"

Tenten shook her head. "I'm actually going to go find Neji."

"I'll go with you, and maybe I can find Shikamaru," Sakura said, as they split from Temari and Kana. It wasn't too long before they finally spotted their boyfriends floating down the lazy river on inner tubes. Her eyes met Tenten's. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Of course." Tenten replied, before they both ran forward and jumped into the lazy river right before their boyfriends could get there. When they re-surfaced, they were both laughing.

"There goes our relaxing time." Neji said, having been wiping some of the water they splashed on them off his face.

"Wow, don't sound too overjoyed to see us." Was Tenten's sarcastic response, as she put a hand on his float in order to keep floating beside him as the current of the lazy river took them around the next curve.

Neji shook his head and smirked, as he rested his hand on top of her hand. "Tenten."

Shikamaru was smirking at Sakura, who was busy floating on her back more in front of them. "I'm surprised we got a whole hour to ourselves."

"Excuse me, rude." Sakura said, jumping over and knocking Shikamaru off his float and into the water. A big smile on her face, as they both resurfaced.

Shikamaru had one hand on the float still, and he shook his hair out a bit. Reaching over with his other hand, he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her closer. "Thank you."

Despite knowing he was being sarcastic, Sakura wrapped her arms around him., and kissed his cheek. "You're welcome."

Smirking at her overly sweet tone, Shikamaru stopped them by some stairs, and pushed his float over to Tenten. "Here, you two have fun going around."

"Thanks." Tenten said, as she jumped up to sit on the float. Continuing down the river with Neji, as the two started up their own conversation.

Shikamaru focused back on Sakura, who had remained by his side, and had her eyes focused upon him. A smile stretched back on his face, as he pulled her a little closer. "Okay, you have got my full attention now."

"Let's go play."

Smirking as Sakura took his hand to lead him up the stairs to get out of the water, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her. "How old are we again?"

"This is my last full day of being seventeen," Sakura replied, as she met his eyes. "I want to enjoy it to its fullest."

"Well, speaking as someone who is already eighteen," Shikamaru said, letting go of her hand to pull his hair back up and out of his face. "It's not that much different than being seventeen."

"But it is though."

"Sure it is," Shikamaru fought the urge to roll his eyes, and he smirked at her again. "What are we doing?"

Pointing to a really big water slide that twisted around and went in all sorts of directions, Sakura's smile widened. "That is what we are going to be doing."

Sighing as he took her hand, Shikamaru glanced over to where he could see Temari and Kana at the bar. "Weren't you just going around and going on all the water slides with your cousin, Temari and Tenten?"

"Yes, but now I want to do it with you," Sakura told him, then she laughed lightly. "However, Temari and Kana wanted to go to the bar, and Tenten and I had to go find you and Neji for replacement entertainment."

"Wow, I feel special."

Shikamaru's sarcasm had Sakura laughing. "It's only because I knew that you wanted to relax today. I was trying to give you some free time to do so… Of course, that only lasted an hour and a half, and now here we are. Back together again."

"I was surprised you lasted that long," Shikamaru said, laughing along with Sakura as they got to the stairs of the water slide. "If I die on this, then I will haunt you forever."

"Oh that sounds fun," Sakura replied as they started up the stairs. She raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru watching the water slide. "Wait, do you not like water slides?"

"It's not a matter of "like" so much as I've never on purpose went on one before."

"What does "on purpose" mean?"

"I have not been inclined to go on a water slide before," Shikamaru corrected, smirking at Sakura's look. "Don't worry, I will attempt to have fun doing this. Just for you."

Sakura grinned, as she took Shikamaru's hand again. "Oh, I wasn't worried about that. I was just thinking about how we will now have to go on every water slide here so that way you can get some experience here."

"Why would I ever need experience going on water slides?" Shikamaru countered, then he shook his head. "Nevermind, let's just get this over with."

"That's the spirit!" Sakura exclaimed, laughing happily as they got up to the top of the stairs.

 **That night**

"Okay, let's go." Sakura said, as she left the bathroom after changing into a fresh bathing suit.

Shikamaru smirked as he eyed her bathing suit. "I like that one."

"Are you saying you don't like my other ones?" Sakura countered, as they left their room and tip-toed out of the living area of the condo, and out into the hall.

"I do like the other ones," Shikamaru told her, handing her towel to her, as they got into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, he looked to her. "I just _really_ like this one."

Grinning at his flirtatious words, Sakura glanced to the side of the elevator that was see-through glass. It was dark out now, as it was close to midnight. After dinner with the others, they had settled into the condo early to rest up before her birthday the next day. Of course, after walking out in the balcony, she noticed that the hot tub out at the back of the hotel was finally free of people, and she wanted to go and enjoy it a bit.

They left the elevator and walked to the back of the hotel that bordered the beach, and they went to the hot tub. After setting their towels to the side, they stepped into the hot tub, and slowly got in as the heat got to them. "This already feels nice."

Sakura just hesitated, as she felt a little bit of a sting on her back. "I think I got a little bit of a sunburn today."

Noticing her hesitation to get in further, Shikamaru propped his elbow on the edge of the hot tub. "I could have told you that. You didn't put on nearly enough sunscreen today."

"I was distracted by having fun," Sakura replied, as she made herself slip further under the water. The stinging from the sunburn was getting to her, but she was finally able to get used to after a minute. "Okay, that's better."

"We have some aloe in the refrigerator upstairs. We can get you some when we go back up," Shikamaru replied, a smirk on his face. "I would be happy to help you put it on."

A smirk appeared on Sakura's face, as she turned more to face Shikamaru. "You're in a mood tonight."

Shikamaru shrugged, as he reached over for her hands and pulled her closer. "So what? You're in a mood all the time."

"You're not wrong, but an attitude mood is not what I'm talking about." Sakura said, smiling as they kissed again. When they broke apart after a moment, she raised an eyebrow at him.

A smirk returned to Shikamaru's face, as let his hands fall to her thighs after she sat on his lap. "Okay, I'm in a mood. To be fair, you are basically setting me up for it though."

It was Sakura's turn to smirk. "How so?"

"Well for starters," Shikamaru's eyes traveled down. "The bikini your wearing is… something."

"Uh huh."

"Then the whole sunburn thing." Shikamaru said, his hands slipping around to her lower back.

Laughing at that, Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you saying that I got sunburnt on purpose so that I could get you to rub aloe on me?"

"You said it, not me."

Once again Sakura laughed, then she kissed him. This time when their kiss broke, she remained close to him. "I'll take the blame, as long as we're on the same page on what we're going to do about this mood that you're in."

"I think we are." Shikamaru replied, smirking as they kissed again.

 **The next morning, August 30th**

Having been awake for a few minutes, Sakura opened her eyes when she had felt pressure all over her body. "You're laying on top of me, you know?"

"I know," Shikamaru replied, kissing her once, then he gave her soft little butterfly kisses down her jawline and neck. "Happy birthday."

Enjoying the attention, Sakura laughed as his hands had been sliding under her shirt. "Thank you."

Bringing his lips back to hers, Shikamaru smirked when their kiss broke. "I have a present for you."

"I told you not to get me anything-" Sakura broke off as his hands had explored downward, and she took in a breath. "On second thought, I'll take it."

"I thought so." Shikamaru said, his lips returning back to hers, and he moved to take her shirt off.

A half hour later, and they had just got out of the shower and Sakura was sighing happily.

"That was probably the best way to start off my birthday morning," Sakura said, slipping her tank top on, as she smiled at Shikamaru. "You sure know how to give me a happy birthday."

"Sakura," Shikamaru said, although he chuckled and kissed her. "How about we go downstairs and get a coffee from that little cafe in the lobby?"

"That would be great right now," Sakura said, as they walked out of the bedroom. Her eyes widened when she was greeted with streamers and balloons all over the room, a big sign that read happy birthday was hung up as well. "Oh my god, this is so cool. When did this happen?"

Shikamaru kicked some of the balloons aside that were on the floor, and leaned against the kitchen counter. "Yeah, after you went to sleep last night, everyone came back and I let them in so they could decorate the place."

"This is so cute and nice of everyone," Sakura said, a smirk appeared on her face. "This is something I would normally do. Of course, I would have done a much better job."

"Wow, way to be appreciative."

Sakura laughed, as she motioned to the room. "I am appreciative. But, I'm not denying that I have excellent decorating skills… Well, I should say destructive skills, because usually when I decorate someone else's room or house for their birthday, they wouldn't be able to walk because there would be so many decorations."

"I can imagine." Shikamaru said, smirking as they made their way to the door to go out.

 **A half hour later**

"I can't believe we are up this early on purpose." Sakura said, sipping her coffee, and taking Shikamaru's hand with her other hand. They had been walking down the beach, and since it was so early, there wasn't anyone out there yet.

Shikamaru took a sip of the coffee in his other hand. "Neither can I. Honestly, I thought you would sleep in after we ended up staying up until almost two in the morning last night."

"Apparently four hours of sleep is all I need." Sakura laughed, as they kept walking.

"Look," Shikamaru said, as he leaned over and picked up a shell from the beach. "They are all over."

"These are so cool," Sakura said, admiring a few shells in her hand. "It's amazing how they turn up like this on the beach."

"It is pretty cool. They all seem to be different from each other." Shikamaru agreed, as he picked up a few shells himself. However, he slipped them into his pockets as they went.

After picking up shells for the next few minutes, Shikamaru glanced up at the sun in the sky, then to Sakura. "You know we should probably head back. The others will be waking up soon."

Deciding to leave the shells she collected on the beach, Sakura set them down and nodded. Keeping one really neat looking shell, as she stood up. "Okay, let's go back."

"Have you decided what you want to eat for breakfast yet?" Shikamaru asked, as they had started walking back in the direction of the hotel they were currently staying at.

"Hmmm," Sakura thought for a moment, then she clapped her hands together. "I want pancakes. A lot of pancakes, and breakfast foods. But mostly pancakes."

"Alright, pancakes it is." Shikamaru said, smirking as that received an overly happy reaction from Sakura.

 **A couple of hours later**

"Oh this sun feels nice." Sakura raised an arm up, as she spun around in a circle. Bringing her margarita to her lips when a little spilled out on the side, she took a few sips to get it to a lower level. They had been out on the beach for the past hour after breakfast, and it had been a great morning so far.

"You need to put on some more sunscreen. Especially on your shoulders." Shikamaru said to Sakura, as she had got a little bit of a sunburn on her shoulders already from yesterday.

"Only if you give me a hand." Sakura said, her tone flirtatious, as she sat on Shikamaru's lap. Her margarita sloshing around in the glass a little. It was her third one that morning.

Smirking, Shikamaru kissed her once, then tried to focus back on the others conversation. Trying to ignore the slight warmness he felt in his cheeks.

"We'll be on the yacht soon enough, and I can't wait." Hinata was saying, as she leaned back on her beach chair.

Naruto grinned in Sakura's direction, at how obviously tipsy she was. "You may not even make it off the beach at this point."

"Shush, I'm fine," Sakura waved off Naruto's words. "Don't worry about it."

"We'll be getting on the yacht in two hours, you know?" Sai asked her, at her taking another sip of her margarita.

Sakura didn't seem bothered, as she shrugged and adjusted herself on Shikamaru's lap. "I'll just take a quick nap and it'll balance itself out."

"How- nevermind." Neji said, waving it off, and trying not to get more involved in the conversation.

"I don't see how that is going to help," Shikamaru said, his hand resting on Sakura's waist. "You've been drinking all morning, and I don't know if a nap is really going to help at this point, Sakura."

"This will be my last drink- this morning." Sakura said, quickly adding that last part, as she finished up the margarita.

"Really?" Hinata asked, her tone showing she was skeptical, as she had raised an eyebrow at Sakura. "Yes really- Oh my god, look at that!" Sakura pointed over to a very large margarita someone was getting a few beach chairs down from where their chairs were. "I want that right now."

"Shocker." Ino mumbled, focusing down on the magazine on her lap, as she put her sunglasses on.

"So much for stopping with that drink." Temari added, although she held a smirk on her face.

 **Later that morning on the yacht**

As they walked onto the yacht, Sakura giggled as she nearly toppled over a chair, but she did happen to knock over another chair that she had to work to pick up."Oops."

"I'll go see if I can find you a coffee." Hinata said, turning and walking over to where all the drinks were.

"Thank you!" Sakura called over to Hinata.

Shikamaru reached over to hold her arm, as she was wavering a little bit. "I think you're a little bit drunk."

"Just a little bit," Sakura said, her hand going to her forehead. "I think I've made a mistake."

"I don't know," Shikamaru said, his arm wrapping more securely around her, as she almost seemed to rock with the boat. "I think this is a new record for you. You've been drinking excessive amounts of alcohol all morning, and you're not unconscious or dead."

"I'm supposed to stay relatively sober until dinner time, and I think I'm doing a great job. Except for the part where I'm really drunk right now."

"Really?"

"Yes really, Shikamaru."

"Like I said. It's a record, because it's not even noon yet." Shikamaru told her, smirking.

Sakura grinned. "You're so supportive of me."

"Sure," Shikamaru said, his eyes going to Hinata, who was walking over with a coffee for Sakura. "She might need more than just a cup."

"I'll be sure to keep it coming." Hinata said, giving Sakura the coffee cup, before she walked over to Naruto, who had smiled as she approached.

Shikamaru's eyes remained on Sakura, as the others had started to pay attention to something else. He watched her looking back at him, as she sipped her coffee. She smiled and laughed after she took another sip. His own smile widened, as he raised an eyebrow. "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing." Sakura replied, trying to hide her laughter, as she took another sip of her coffee.

"Okay." Shikamaru said, smirking as Sakura laughed again. _She definitely needs that coffee._

 **Later that evening**

"Oh, this is so embarrassing." Sakura murmured, trying to hide her face on Shikamaru's shoulder, as she was currently being sung happy birthday by her friends and some of the staff of the restaurant they were at.

"It's your birthday, so you get the full treatment remember?" Shikamaru whispered back to her, chuckling at her obvious embarrassment.

When the song finally ended, Sakura sighed and straightened up, and blew the candles out on the dessert that the staff had brought to the table. "Thanks, you guys. You didn't have to do this."

"Oh yes we did," Hinata replied, grabbing her glass of wine. "We've had to put up with your intoxicated butt all day, and seeing you embarrassed a little bit makes it worth it."

"Wow, thanks a lot Hinata. I am feeling the love," Sakura said, taking a bite of the cake and ice cream, she hummed happily. "This is really good."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow when Sakura had got a bite on her fork, and held it over to him. "I'm pretty full from dinner actually."

"Come on, it's really good," Sakura encouraged, smiling as Shikamaru finally accepted the bite of cake. "Well?"

"Okay," Shikamaru started, finishing the bite of cake, then he washed it down with his drink. "I agree, that was good."

"What are we doing after this?" Tenten asked, having been leaning back against the back of her chair, as she was full from dinner and feeling like she wouldn't be able to move again.

Sakura's eyes glanced around the table, some of her cousins and her eldest brother, Sora and his girlfriend Amaya left earlier that day. Sora and Amaya left, because they had to go back to the Leaf village before meeting them up at the lake house tomorrow. The cousins had similar reasons for leaving. "Since some of the others left today, we should just go back to my condo and drink and play games or something."

"If that's okay with Naruto and Hinata," Shikamaru added quickly, shaking his head at Sakura's raised eyebrow. "They also are sharing the condo, so you should probably ask first before inviting everyone over there."

"It's okay," Hinata said, waving it off, as she and Naruto shared a look. "I'm fine with it."

"Me too." Naruto agreed with a nod.

Sakura then leaned over to Shikamaru. "Are you okay with it Shikamaru?"

Smirking at her, Shikamaru rested his hand on the back of her chair. "Of course. It's your birthday, and we can do whatever you want to..." he trailed off, and whistled lowly at the size of the jumbo margarita the waitress just set on the table in front of Sakura. "Besides, if you drink all of that, I don't think you're going to remember if we go upstairs or not."

That made the others laugh, Sakura just raised an eyebrow. "I didn't order this."

"That's because I did," Kana said, giving Sakura a wave. "It is my birthday present to you."

Sakura smirked as the waitress set one in front of Kana too. "And to yourself?"

Kana grinned. "Of course. I wouldn't dare make you have this much fun by yourself."

"What an amazing human being you are." Sakura said, laughing along with Kana, as they picked up their margaritas and clinked them together. She took a long sip of hers, and a shiver went down her spine at how cold it was. _Happy birthday to me._

 **The middle of the night**

Opening his eyes, Shikamaru blinked a few times to adjust to the dark room. He reached an arm over to Sakura, only to find she wasn't in the bed next to him. Despite sleep tugging at the back of his mind, Shikamaru pushed himself out of bed, and walked over to the bathroom door. It was cracked and the light was off. He pushed it open, and found the shadowed outline of Sakura wrapped in a blanket on the rug in the bathroom. Growing more alert, Shikamaru quickened his steps over to her, and knelt down beside her. "Sakura."

Sakura groaned at first, as she cracked open her eyes to look at him. "I drank too much."

Shikamaru smirked when he realized she was okay, as he settled down to sitting on the floor next to her. "Yeah, I would have to agree with you."

Feeling a huge wave of nausea came over her, Sakura was quick to sit up and make it to the toilet, before she threw up again.

Reaching over for her hair, Shikamaru held it with one hand, and the other rubbed her back gently until she seemed to be finished throwing up.

After flushing the toilet and brushing her teeth again, Sakura returned back to the floor, and sighed heavily. "I am pretty sure that I am dying right now."

"You'll be okay," Shikamaru encouraged, his hand rubbing her back again. "You know that we have some traveling to do tomorrow to look forward to. I will finally get to see the infamous lake house that I've been told all about."

"It's going to be a lot of fun, and I'm excited to go up there for a few days. But, I think that it has been a great few days at the beach," Sakura said, humming lowly as she smiled. "This trip so far has been so much fun. I don't know if I can pick out my favorite part. The beach, the bar, or the food."

It was silent for a long moment, and finally Shikamaru broke the silence. "I honestly didn't know what to expect for your birthday trip. The way you and the others made it sound certainly left a lot to the imagination. But here, right now, sitting on the floor of the bathroom at almost three o'clock in the morning is about right."

Sakura chuckled after a moment. "I'm sorry that I'm a little bit of a disaster sometimes. Thank you for being here for me when I need you."

"You don't have to thank me," Shikamaru murmured, his finger tracing down the side of her face, and going back to tuck her hair behind her ear. Repeating the process, he noticed that seemed to soother her more. "Do you feel any better?"

Sakura was quiet for a moment, then she sighed and nodded her head slowly. "I sort of still feel like death, but I'm not that nauseous anymore, I think."

"Okay," Shikamaru said, as he slipped his arms behind her shoulders and knees. He slowly picked her up off the ground, his eyes glancing to her face with concern when she groaned. When there was no protesting from her, he left the bathroom and brought her back over to the bed. He laid her down, and moved over to get in on the other side. After covering them both with the comforter, he wrapped an arm around her, and moved a little closer to her. "Happy birthday Sakura."

"Thank you." Sakura said, relaxing when Shikamaru had put his arm around her, and feeling sleep calling to her.

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 **A/N: Sakura's birthday chapter is complete! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

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	10. The Haruno's Lake House

_Review:_

 _Sakura was quiet for a moment, then she sighed and nodded her head slowly. "I sort of still feel like death, but I'm not that nauseous anymore, I think."_

" _Okay," Shikamaru said, as he slipped his arms behind her shoulders and knees. He slowly picked her up off the ground, his eyes glancing to her face with concern when she groaned. When there was no protesting from her, he left the bathroom and brought her back over to the bed. He laid her down, and moved over to get in on the other side. After covering them both with the comforter, he wrapped an arm around her, and moved a little closer to her. "Happy birthday Sakura."_

" _Thank you." Sakura said, relaxing when Shikamaru had put his arm around her, and feeling sleep calling to her._

* * *

 **The next morning, August 31st**

Walking into the lake house, Shikamaru's eyes explored the place. He had traveled with Naruto, Sai, Ino and some of Sakura's siblings unexpectedly after waking up that morning with a note from Sakura saying she and some of the others already left, and would meet them at the lake house.

Midori, Sakura's mother, was quick to greet them, as they walked in. As everyone seemed to go their own ways, Shikamaru felt Sakura's mother's eyes on him.

"Sakura didn't come with you all?"

"Apparently not," Shikamaru replied, a smirk on his face as he shrugged. "She went separately with some of the others. Of course she didn't tell me where she was going or that we would be traveling separately until this morning with a note after she already left."

"That sounds like here alright," Midori said, laughing as she motioned to the stairs. "So would you like to sleep downstairs, or will you be sleeping up in Sakura's room?"

Feeling a little awkward at that question, Shikamaru hesitated from responding, as he hummed lowly.

Midori realized his hesitation, and she waved a hand and laughed it off. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I have five children. Six children, when I count my honorary child Misaki. Anyway, my point is that Sakura is not the first to bring home a boyfriend or girlfriend. Well, actually it's the first time she specifically did, but I mean out of her siblings. Anyway, I'm getting better at trying not to meddle in their relationships. You two are both young adults, and you can make your own decisions."

"Right," Shikamaru said, then he rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I'm going to be sleeping in her room."

"I figured," Midori said with a nod. Watching as all the dogs were let in by Gaara, and how Shadow and Tank immediately gravitated to Shikamaru. "I'd be happy to take your stuff upstairs for you if you want to sit down and relax."

"That's alright-" Shikamaru broke off as Tank had jumped up with both paws on either of his shoulders, and Shadow was circling him so much that it was causing him to go a little off balance. "I can take care of my stuff. I wouldn't want you to have to go out of your way."

"Oh it's not out of my way. I already have to go upstairs," Midori said, a smirk growing on her face. "My eldest son will sleep the day away if he doesn't get out of bed soon."

"Good luck with that," Amaya said, as she walked inside from the back porch along with Temari, who had gone out there to visit with Amaya for a minute once she arrived with Shikamaru and the others. "He didn't budge when I got up earlier."

After Sakura's mother had taken Shikamaru's stuff upstairs, Shikamaru finally got the dogs to settle down a bit, and he glanced to Amaya. "When did you and Sora get here?"

"Late last night," Amaya replied, as she had gone into the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. "We finished up we needed to at the Leaf village around nine last night, and we just figured we'd rather go ahead and travel then instead of waiting to do so this morning."

"We didn't think you all would ever get here." Sakura's father, Akio, added as he had poured coffee in Amaya's coffee mug for her.

"Well, we were taking our time." Temari replied, sitting at the kitchen table in the seat next to Akio.

Ino chuckled as she returned back to the living room after she and Sai had gone to set their stuff down in one of the rooms. "Sakura got out of control last night, and was a party or a disaster. It still hasn't been decided which yet."

That made the others laugh, as Misaki appeared from the back porch. Offering a smile to the others. "If Daitaro and I knew that Sakura would pull a fast one and disappear, we would have encouraged you all to leave earlier with us this morning."

"Trust me," Ino said, waving a hand. "I don't think you would have been able to wake us up. We all went to bed so late last night."

"Yeah, I don't know how you two managed to even get up that early." Temari added, watching as Misaki was walking to the stairs.

"Daitaro and I were motivated by the fact of getting here as early as possible to be reunited with our babies," Misaki said, pausing at the bottom of the stairs. "Speaking of, I have to go check on them. They've been down for their morning nap for barely an hour, and I'm surprised one of them hasn't woke up yet."

After Misaki went upstairs, Naruto hummed lowly. "I wonder where Hinata- I mean the others were."

Ino smirked as Naruto's cheeks had gone red when he mentioned Hinata's name. "We all heard you say 'Hinata' first."

Sai smirked in Naruto's direction. "Moron."

That started a quick argument between Naruto and Sai, however it was interrupted by a yell from upstairs. Midori's laughter was heard, as she started coming down the stairs.

"Mom!" Sora exclaimed, following shortly after his mother. His face showed he had just woken up, and he was clearly annoyed. "I was sleeping."

"Now you're awake." Midori replied, smiling as she went over to join her husband in the kitchen.

Amaya smiled at how her very sleepy boyfriend walked over, and joined her on the couch. "Good morning babe."

"Morning," Sora replied, kissing her once, before he leaned back against the couch cushions. "I want to go back to sleep."

A small chocolate labrador puppy trotted over, and jumped up so her front two paws were resting on the couch. A small bark coming from her, as her tail wagged a hundred miles per hour.

"Oh that's new." Naruto said, eyeing the dog. "Who's dog?"

"She's ours," Amaya replied, her eyes twinkling at how she pet the dog. "Hazel."

Sora sighed as he brought a hand to the puppy's head. "One day we woke up, and Amaya said she wanted to get a dog. Little did I know we'd be literally getting that dog right after breakfast that morning."

Amaya laughed, and nudged his shoulder. "Don't act like you don't like her. She loves you so much. All she wants to do is be around you."

It was that moment when Sora finally noticed Shikamaru. "So if you're here, my demon little sister should be around the corner."

Shikamaru chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "I actually don't know where she is. We traveled separately. Which I didn't know we were doing until it was time to leave and she was nowhere to be found."

Sora chuckled as the front door was heard opening, and Kankuro smirked as all the dogs started gravitating to the front door area. "Speak of the devil."

"Oh hush," Temari said at both Sora and Kankuro laughing, a smile on her face as her eyes met emerald green ones. "Look who has finally decided to show up."

Sakura held out a peace sign, as she slipped her bag off her shoulders. The dogs circling around her. "Yeah, sorry about that. We had to stop at the liquor store-"

"Seriously?" Midori interrupted her daughter from where she was in the kitchen. "I can't believe-" she stopped talking and her entire face changed from scolding to happy at the sight of Hinata, Tenten, and Neji appearing along with Sakura and her cousin, Kana. She went to hug them happily.

"You know mom, I wish you hugged me like that. Your actual daughter."

"Sakura." Midori said, waving her off, as she started conversations with the others.

"Who's this little lady?" Sakura asked at the sight of the chocolate Labrador puppy. She knelt down and held out a hand to the puppy, and smiled as she pet her.

"That's Hazel," Amaya replied, smiling at how the puppy seemed to get swallowed up by the much larger dogs. The only dog that was smaller was Callie, and she was staying out of the way. "We got her a month ago. I guess we just haven't had time to introduce her just yet. Our friend was watching him for us the last few days, and we went and picked him up from the village when we went back yesterday.

"Well, she's adorable," Sakura replied, laughing as all the dogs tried to get even closer to her. She looked up and finally made eye contact with Shikamaru. "Hey, I know you."

Shikamaru smirked and crossed his arms. "I was waiting to see how long it took you to notice."

Standing up, Sakura walked over and kissed his cheek. "Sorry for dipping out on traveling with you. But priorities."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Your alcoholism is a priority now?"

"Shut up," Sakura shot back, her eyes focusing in on Daymon from across the room. "Ew."

Daymon smirked back at her. "I was hoping you had died or something."

"Daymon." Temari said, shaking her head and smirking at the glares exchanged between her boyfriend and Sakura.

Sakura waved a hand, and put a smile on her face. "You know me. I always survive, unfortunately."

"That's not funny." Hinata said, having heard what Sakura said.

"I was just kidding." Sakura said, returning to her glaring at Daymon from across the room.

Sighing as he leaned back on the couch. "Why is it that you can't just get along with me? I'm obviously not going anywhere after having been dating your sister for the last few years."

"Trust me," a new voice was heard, as Daitaro appeared on the second floor at the part that was open to the living room. Resting his arms on the railing, as he smirked down at them. "It won't ever stop. I've been together with Misaki since we were young teenagers, we've gotten married and had kids, and she still doesn't get along with me."

Daymon motioned in Amaya's direction. "She gets along with Amaya though."

"True," Sora said, then he smirked. "But she doesn't like me all that much."

"So it balances out," Misaki's voice was heard, as she appeared as well. Laughing as she and Daitaro walked down the stairs. "Nice to see the rest of you have arrived."

"You two left so early this morning, I was wondering if you two would be taking a nap by now." Hinata added, moving over on the couch she was on to leave room for Misaki.

"We took a little nap when we first got here," Misaki said, as she sat down. "We managed though-"

"Where are my babies?" Sakura asked, as if she all of a sudden realized that Sachi and Hiro were here.

"Upstairs sleeping- Sakura please don't go and wake them up."

"I'm not." Sakura replied to Misaki, as she started up the stairs two and a time."

Reaching over for the video baby monitor, Misaki smirked and shook her head at the sight. "Sakura just woke Hiro up by going in the room. I'm surprised Sachi isn't waking up too."

A couple minutes passed by, and finally Sakura returned back down the stairs. A sleepy Hiro in her arms, and she laughed lightly at Misaki's frown. "My bad."

Misaki sighed. "You're not sorry."

"Since you woke him up, you can feed him and keep him entertained for a while," Daitaro started, smirking at Sakura. "Then when he falls asleep early tonight because he missed one of his naps today, then you can be the one to get up with him at two in the morning."

"You make that sound like it's a punishment," Sakura shot back, as she moved to put Hiro in his high chair in the kitchen. She grabbed him some baby food, and scowled when her mother had gave him a milk bottle. "Hey! That's not fair, you've had so much more time with him than I have."

Rolling her eyes at her daughter, Midori allowed Hiro to hold the bottle. "I'm giving him a bottle Sakura, you can still feed him if you want to."

"It's not the same thing," Sakura shot back, sitting down in another chair at the table, as she smiled at Hiro. Her mind went to Shikamaru though. "Shikamaru, did you put your stuff in my room, already?"

At the others eyes going to him, Shikamaru sighed at the attention that Sakura had put on him. "Yes."

"Good." Sakura replied, then put her full focus back on Hiro.

The conversation in the room faded to the back of his mind, as Shikamaru watched Sakura and how she was so cheerfully interacting with Hiro. _She has such a big heart._

 **A couple of hours later**

Having just finished up lunch, Shikamaru stepped out on the back porch to find Sakura sitting on the top of the steps. Her parents golden retriever Charley laying down next to her with his head on her lap. Sitting on her other side, Shikamaru smiled as she had immediately adjusted to resting her head on his shoulder. "Lunch was pretty good, I thought the barbecue at the village was good, but what we just ate was probably the best barbecue I've ever had."

"My mom is a really great cook. That's one of the biggest reasons why I miss living with them," Sakura said, then she laughed. "And because I miss them of course."

"Of course," Shikamaru smiled, wrapping his arm around her. His eyes took in the view around them. There was a small lake with a dock that led out to the center of it. There were four other cabins spread out around the lake, and he could see the occasional relative of Sakura's around the other cabins. "So each of these belongs to one of your dad's siblings?"

"Three of them do," Sakura said, as she pointed to the cabin across the lake. "That one is my grandparents."

"Ah." Shikamaru murmured, moving his hand slowly up and down Sakura's arm.

With each stroke of his hand, Sakura felt a flutter inside her chest that sent happiness all over. "I love this place. It's so secluded, and I love the fact that it's more nature-oriented."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. "This is my kind of place."

"I figured it would be," Sakura said, smiling at him, before focusing back on the view of the lake. "I would eventually love to get a place like this. It doesn't have to be by a lake, but I want a house that isn't that close to a busy village."

"That is music to my ears." Shikamaru said without really thinking. His face grew warm, as he realized what his words had implied.

Noticing how quiet Shikamaru got, Sakura moved her head so she could look at him. "I know it's weird. We've only been dating for a month and a half, but I guess if you decide that for some reason you want to continue dating me in the future, at least we are on the same page on where we would want to live together."

Shikamaru relaxed at her talking about it so calmly, and he chuckled at her phrasing. "For some reason if I want to continue dating you? Why do you say it like that?"

"Because you could wake up tomorrow and realize how extra and crazy I am, then you could ditch me."

"You don't have to worry about that. I know what I signed up for." Shikamaru said, resting a hand on her face, as he kissed her tenderly. When their kiss broke, he smiled warmly at the smile on her face, as they stared at one another.

Feeling the happiness explode through her body, Sakura nuzzled her head back onto his shoulder, and she sighed happily. Feeling his arms go back around her, she closed her eyes, and her smile widened. _This moment couldn't be more perfect._

 **The next morning, September 1st**

The sound of knocking was what Shikamaru woke up to, and he blinked at the still dark room. Noticing Sakura was moving from under where his arm was wrapped around her. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," Sakura said, as she sat up. Her eyes going to her door where the knocking had come from. She yawned and spoke up a little louder, "Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

The sound of Sakura's father's voice had Shikamaru's eyes widen, as he had brought a hand to Sakura's arm to whisper to her. "No-"

"Sure," Sakura interrupted Shikamaru, and she shook her head at him. Her eyes went back to the doorway when her dad opened it and poked his head in. "Yes?"

"This is your fifteen-minute head start." Akio replied to his daughter, offering a nod to Shikamaru, but his eyes were focusing on Sakura.

"Oh hell yeah," Sakura said, as she waved her hand. "We'll be down there in a few minutes."

After Sakura's dad nodded and closed the door back, Shikamaru's eyes went to Sakura, who had gone to turn on the lamp beside her bed. Both Shadow, Tank, and her parents dog, Charley, stirred at the end of the bed. "You just let him walk in here-"

"It's not that big of a deal. He knows we are sharing a room and in a relationship. He's not stupid." Sakura interrupted him, pushing the covers off herself.

"I'm not implying that he is. I'm just pointing out that it's a bit awkward when we're in bed together."

"Your parents know that we sleep in the same bed together though."

"Well I don't just invite them into my room when we're both half naked." Shikamaru replied, motioning to her lack of wearing pants, and his shirtless self.

Sakura chuckled and shrugged. "It wouldn't be a big deal if you did. As long as all the important stuff is covered, then it is not a big deal."

"I don't know that we agree there," was what Shikamaru said, although he smirked at Sakura's lack of concern. "Where are we going?"

"I don't hide things from my dad Shikamaru. And as for where we are going, it's going to be fun, so don't worry," Sakura replied, starting to slip his shirt off of her. She noticed Shikamaru wasn't moving, and she shook her head. "What are you just sitting there for?"

Shikamaru sighed, but followed her in getting up. "Last time you said it was going to be fun and to not worry was before you took us all down to the beach for your birthday, and you proceeded to show me how crazy you are when you're under the influence of alcohol for three days straight."

Sakura's eyes lit up, and she waved shortly at him. "That is the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Shikamaru smirked as he slipped a shirt on, and some shorts on over his boxers. "Should I go tell your dad you'll be taking more than ten minutes to get ready? As it usually takes you thirty minutes."

Sakura slipped on some jean shorts, and buttoned them up. "No, I'm not going to take that long."

Shikamaru chuckled. "With how many times I've had to wait for you to get ready-"

"Done," Sakura said, slipping on her shoes, and having grabbed her bag. "Let's go."

"Wow, and what takes you so long the other times?" Shikamaru asked, as they left the room.

"I'm either putting effort into what I'm wearing or putting on makeup and doing my hair." Sakura replied, as she combed her fingers through her hair to put her hair up into a ponytail.

As they started down the stairs, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Why is today any different than any other day?"

"Because today is the day."

"What does that even mean?" Shikamaru asked, noticing that all that did was make Sakura laugh a little.

"Thanks for waking me up early." Sakura said to her dad, as they got to the bottom of the stairs.

"No problem princess," her dad replied, handing over a few catalogs. "You'll be seeing your siblings soon enough."

"Alright." Sakura said, smiling at him before she and Shikamaru went into the kitchen by themselves.

As they settled on a couple bar stools at the counter, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

Sakura slapped a few catalogs on the countertop, and she smiled. "Fireworks."

"This is where we are going?" Shikamaru asked, an eyebrow raised at the fireworks catalogs.

"Yeah, dad takes us—his kids—every year, when we come up to the lake," Sakura said, grabbing a pen from the counter. "He usually wakes me up 15 minutes earlier than the others, so I can make up the game plan."

"Why am I going?"

"Dad must like you for some reason," Sakura teased, having to dodge his finger that had gone to poke her side. "He usually invites my siblings significant others as well. But I mean not always. There was this one girl that Kankuro was dating a couple years ago that did not get an invite, because we were already convinced she was crazy."

"I'm sure she wasn't if he was dating her, she wasn't that crazy." Shikamaru said, raising an eyebrow as that made Sakura laugh.

"Please, I think it was obvious why he was dating her," Sakura said, noticing that didn't change Shikamaru's look, she smirked. "It was because of the sex."

"Okay, changing the subject back to the fireworks." Shikamaru said, opening the second firework catalog.

As the other siblings started filtering in, Shikamaru was eyeing Sakura as she circled certain things in the fireworks catalog. It was clear to see her taste of fireworks usually involved a lot of lights and loud booms. His eyes went back to the kitchen archway when he heard more voices.

Temari yawned as she and Daymon entered the kitchen. "I need coffee or I am going to die."

"You're being extra dramatic this morning," Daymon told her, but he kissed her cheek, despite her pointed glare. "How about I pour us some coffee? Sakura? Shikamaru?"

"Yes absolutely." Sakura replied, her focus going fully back to the fireworks catalog.

"Sure," Shikamaru said, getting up and getting coffee creamer out of the refrigerator for Sakura. "We're all up pretty early this morning it seems."

"It'll be a pretty fun day though." Daymon said, taking a long sip of own coffee after pouring coffee in two more coffee mugs.

Shikamaru smirked. "So I've heard."

 **Later that afternoon**

"This morning was actually pretty fun." Shikamaru told Sakura, taking her hand as they were in the middle of taking all the dogs for a walk around the lake.

"I knew that you would have fun, despite us having to wake up really early in the morning," Sakura said, her eyes twinkling. "It's a tradition that I look forward to every year. It started when I was five, and I remember being so little that my dad would carry me on his back when we'd go to breakfast. Afterwards, we'd go to the fireworks tent, and there were endless amounts of fireworks. I used to think the place was huge as a kid."

"In your defense, the fireworks tent did seem pretty big, from an adult perspective." Shikamaru said, smirking at how that made her laugh. His eyes glanced around to all the dogs that had spread out on their walk.

Whistling for the dogs to come back to her, Sakura smiled as it took a bit longer for Hazel, her brother's new puppy to come back, but she seemed to be picking up on what to do by following the other dogs. As they continued their walk around the lake, she motioned around them. "I love all of t his. The lake and the forest. This is the perfect day."

"It looks like it is going to rain." Shikamaru pointed out, his eyes on the dark grey clouds in the sky.

"No, we'll be fine," Sakura disagreed, as they kept walking around the lake. "I know this seems extra, my dad's family owning this property and the lake and all, but I mean with my huge family it just made sense."

"I thought I heard something about how it was land that used to belong to your great, great grandfather, right?" Shikamaru asked, watching her nod. "And it's just gotten passed down?"

"Yeah, it's a whole mess of a story if we try to go further in history than that."

"This is still pretty cool though."

"I guess," Sakura agreed, as they walked around a few trees to keep going around the lake. "My grandparents originally owned the cabin that my parents own now. Then as my dad and his siblings grew older, my grandparents started construction on more cabins for their own families, and here we are."

Shikamaru chuckled at the thought. "Well at the way your family is growing, I'm sure that this lake will be completely surrounded by cabins in no time."

Sakura laughed and shrugged. "You're not wrong."

It wasn't until they were almost completely across the small lake than her parents cabin when the rain finally broke from the clouds, and started to pour down on them. "Oh my god!" Sakura exclaimed, as she and Shikamaru started racing around the lake to get back to the cabin. The dogs going as well, barking away at how exciting it was that they were running now.

The second they were on the porch, Shikamaru turned to face her, as he brought her closer. "Told you so."

Throwing her head back, Sakura laughed for a long moment, then she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

 **Almost an hour later**

Both Sakura and Shikamaru were freshly showered, and were up in her room now. Watching the rain falling from her bedroom window, and happy to be out of it.

Shikamaru's eyes moved away from the window as Sakura had walked over to sit on her bed. Shadow and Tank were up there, along with her parents golden retriever, Charley. "So this whole thing up at the lake is a pretty big deal, huh? I've met so many members of your family today that I don't think I can count."

"It's always a big event whenever my family gets together," Sakura said, leaning back on the pillows on the bed. "Hinata and Neji's family hasn't really been the most normal, and they have been invited to basically all the holidays and family events my family has for years now. Same for Sai and Naruto, then of course Ino's dating Sai and Tenten is dating Neji-"

"And I'm dating you." Shikamaru interrupted, getting the picture.

"Exactly, and also Naruto and Hinata were both invited separately. However we all know they are flirting with the idea of being together," Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples. "All my friends are dating each other, and it's weird."

"The struggle." Shikamaru said, smirking as that made Sakura laugh. It seemed like Sakura's laughter brought in the other dogs in the house. The rottweiler Max and the yorkie Callie was not far behind."

"Well, party in my room." Sakura joked, as the dogs came over to her for some attention.

"Now we're just missing-" Shikamaru broke off as Hazel strolled in, and went straight to Sakura. "This is ridiculous."

"I don't think so," Sakura disagreed, laughing at all the dogs paying attention to her. "This is probably the best day of my life."

 **A couple hours later**

"Yeah, we're just finishing up cooking the meat." Sora was saying to Amaya as they walked inside the house. It had stopped raining and dried up a little, and they were not cooking out on the grill.

Amaya smiled at Sakura and Shikamaru. "You two have the right idea. It feels so nice in here, and the fire is making it so hot outside."

"We're going outside in a minute." Shikamaru said, noticing how that made Sakura grumble, and he raised an eyebrow.

Amaya grabbed a couple of the sodas from the refrigerator, and Sora grabbed the rest of the burgers and hot dogs for his dad. He scowled and shook his head at the lack of movement from Sakura. "Thanks for helping Sakura."

"No problem." Sakura shot back, not moving from her spot, as she watched him leave to go out back.

After Sora walked outside, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at Sakura remaining leaning against him. "Maybe we should go outside."

"Fine." Was Sakura's dramatic reply, as she groaned.

At Sakura's lack of movement and her groan, Shikamaru chuckled. "Something is not right here."

"Can you give me like five seconds?"

"Why?"

"I've been drinking tequila all day today, and it's hitting me."

"Shocker," Shikamaru smirked as he guided her to stand up. "Come on, let's get up. You'll be okay."

"I don't know about that." Sakura said, a smile appearing on her face again, as Shikamaru had straightened her hair out a bit for her. They walked outside, and over to sit on some chairs over by the big fire pit. Her extended family had filtered over from their cabins, as they were having a big dinner for everyone tonight.

"I change my mind," Shikamaru said, his hand going to Sakura's arm.. "Let's go back inside. There are too many people here."

Sakura smiled and shook her head. "If we do that then we'll draw more attention to ourselves, as my mom already thinks I'm anti-social enough when my family is around."

"I would never ever describe you as antisocial," Shikamaru said, then he smirked. "Unless it was opposite day of course."

While that made Sakura roll her eyes, Naruto grinned and high-fived Shikamaru. "Good one."

Shikamaru overheard Sakura's mother ask her son's to go get some of the tables from the garage, and he waved a hand. "I can help them out with that."

"Me too!" Naruto volunteered, as he stood up as well.

"Thank you." Sakura's mother said, offering both of them smiles, then she glared in her son's directions. "Now that's refreshing to have some volunteers instead of the complaining that I get from my son's. Well except Gaara of course."

"Of course." Kankuro said, as he and Sora both laughed.

Gaara shook his head, and walked more calmly after the others.

Now that Sakura was by herself, she glanced around at everyone, and hummed in thought.

Hinata noticed Sakura surveying the area, and she raised an eyebrow. "You look like you are up to no good."

"Hmmm. That doesn't sound like me." Sakura shot back, as she kept looking around.

"Right." Hinata said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in Sakura's direction.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sakura replied, slipping her hands in her pockets as she heard the voices of Sora and Kankuro hitting her ears.

Sora and Kankuro returned with one of the tables, and just after they set it up there were a ton of sparks and loud popping sounds by their feet. Both Sora and Kankuro didn't hesitate as they looked in the direction of their youngest sister. "Sakura!"

Sakura, who was petting the dogs now, who had gotten excited at the sounds. "What?"

Sora glared at her. "You threw a firecracker at us."

"No I didn't-"

"You did too!" Kankuro and Sora chorused.

Sakura shook her head in her brothers direction. "I've just been sitting here and petting the dogs the entire time."

"You are such a liar." Hinata murmured under her breath just loud enough for only Sakura to hear, and she laughed.

"Maybe you stepped on some firecrackers." Sakura offered her brother, a smug smirk on her face.

"That's not how that works," Sora said, then he scowled. "Why am I arguing this? You are crazy!"

"Aw, thanks Sora." Sakura replied sweetly, as she patted his shoulder. Causing him to move quickly out of arms reach from her.

Another firecracker went off, this time right next to where Sakura's mother, Midori, and some of Sakura's aunts were sitting. All the woman jumped up. Midori specifically looked to her husband. "What in the world?"

Sakura's father whistled lowly from where he was flipping burgers by the grill, his eyes glancing back to Sakura, and he winked at her.

Sakura contained a laugh, and she kept a smirk on her face as she looked to Sora. "Something must be in the air."

Sora deadpanned. "Yeah, you're delusional."

"No more firecrackers so close to other people. I don't know why I have to actually say that." Midori said, her glare directed right at her husband.

Akio nodded, trying to keep a serious look on his face. "I totally degree."

Her dad's words made it nearly impossible for Sakura to keep it together, and she stood up quickly. "I'll go get the table cloths for the tables." She announced before going up the steps and inside the house, as soon as the back door closed, she started laughing. So much so that tears started from her eyes, and she felt like she could barely breathe. _My dad is amazing. I love him._

 **Later that evening**

After dinner they had all settled out in the back yard and on the back porch of Sakura's parents cabin, and we're waiting for the sun to finish going down. Both Haru and Kankuro were at the dock that led to the center of the lake, and had all the fireworks with them.

Sakura sighed as she sat down on the porch next to Shikamaru. "This whole fireworks show better be worth me having to restrain myself and not shoot off any fireworks today."

Shikamaru smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You have shot off fireworks today."

"I only set off the first firecracker."

"Sure you did."

Shrugging her shoulders, Sakura laughed. "I can't take all the credit. My dad set off the second one. Where do you think I learned that little trick from?"

Shikamaru chuckled. "I'm terrified to be around you and fireworks now, to be honest."

"Don't worry," Sakura said, offering him a smile. "It wouldn't be as much fun to torture you like it is for my brothers."

"Thanks… I think."

Sakura rested her head on his shoulder. "You're welcome."

Adjusting so she'd be more comfortable, Shikamaru glanced from where the fireworks were to Sakura. "I'm surprised you're not out there shooting the fireworks off with them."

"I do sometimes," Sakura said, meeting Shikamaru's eyes. "But I wanted to spend time with you."

Smiling warmly at that, Shikamaru kissed her once. "I like that."

"Well, I like you so…" Sakura trailed off, the fluttering feeling inside of her grew.

Kissing Sakura again on her cheek, Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her, as their eyes focused forward as Haru and Kankuro started shooting off fireworks. _She's something special._

 **The next morning, September 2nd**

They were finishing up breakfast, Sakura being the last to eat, as it took her a while before she got out of bed that morning. She was seated at the bar in the kitchen, when her eyes went to Sora and Amaya, who were apparently saying goodbye, as Sora was dressed in his usual mission clothes.

"It stinks that you have to leave early," Amaya said, as she and Sora were hugging goodbye. Their dog, Rocky, trying to get in-between them. "I'll miss you."

"I'll only be gone on the mission for a few days, so by the time you get back home, I'll be there too." Sora said, before he kissed her.

Scowling at the sight of her brother and his girlfriend kissing, Sakura propped her head on her hand. "Yeah, I'm trying to eat her, so if you two would stop, that would be great."

Sora and Amaya broke apart briefly, and Sora glanced to his youngest sister. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Sakura deadpanned at him. "When are you leaving again?"

"Enough Sakura," her mother scolded, as she had sipped her coffee, then started to work on wiping down the counters. "Leave them alone, and stop trying to irritate your brother."

"The world doesn't revolve around you." Sora told her, grinning in her direction.

"It should!" Sakura called over, smirking as that brought laughter from some of the others. At the sight of Sora and Amaya kissing again, she dramatically dropped her spoon in her bowl and stood up. "Well, I have lost my appetite for the rest of my life. Excuse me while I go throw up, and have to scrub my eyeballs with acid so I can never see again."

Sakura's words had everyone else laughing, even Amaya and Sora joined in, as she had left to go out on the back porch.

 **Outside**

Sakura was seated on the top step on the back porch, and she was taking in the warm Summer air. The only sound was the occasionally chirping of birds. She heard the door open behind her, and she already knew who it was.

"So," Shikamaru started, as he joined her by sitting on the top step. His eyes glancing to Charley, who was laying down on her other side. "We''ll be back home in a few days. I've missed it, but it was nice being away for this past week."

"I'm happy you came with me," Sakura said, admiring the cloudless sky. "You didn't have to come with me for the whole week, but you did and it was really nice of you."

"In case you forgot, we're in a relationship and that means we're supposed to enjoy spending time together." Shikamaru reminded her, smirking.

Sakura grinned. "Is that so?"

"It is so," Shikamaru said, taking one of her hands in his. "You don't need to thank me for being with you this week. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Feeling her cheeks grow warm, Sakura glanced ahead of them. "Okay, let's change the subject."

"Are you blushing?" Shikamaru asked her, a smirk returning to his face.

Quickly looking away from him, Sakura felt her cheeks grow even warmer. "No."

Hooking a finger under Sakura's chin, Shikamaru got her to look back at him. "I think you are."

Sakura laughed. "I am not!"

"You are too." Shikamaru murmured, his smirk softened to a smile, as he pulled her closer, and he kissed her deeply.

When their kiss broke, Sakura smiled, and rested her head on his shoulder. _I am so incredibly lucky to have found Shikamaru. I couldn't imagine my life without him._

* * *

 **A/N: Sakura's birthday trip is coming to an end. I think my favorite scene to write was definitely the end with all that fluff. What was your favorite scene?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**


	11. Too Much Tequila

_Review:_

 _Hooking a finger under Sakura's chin, Shikamaru got her to look back at him. "I think you are."_

 _Sakura laughed. "I am not!"_

" _You are too." Shikamaru murmured, his smirk softened to a smile, as he pulled her closer, and he kissed her deeply._

 _When their kiss broke, Sakura smiled, and rested her head on his shoulder. I am so incredibly lucky to have found Shikamaru. I couldn't imagine my life without him._

* * *

 **Two and a half weeks later, September 21st**

"I am so glad we're not playing with real money." Shikamaru's cousin, Shinji, said. Some of the others agreeing with him, as eyes were going to the end of the table where Sakura was laughing.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at most card games," Sakura said, then she nudged Shikamaru. "Of course, it's refreshing knowing that you can keep up with my score."

Shikamaru smirked at her somewhat compliment. His eyes going to her unwrapping a piece of candy, and eating it. "You know, if you keep eating the candy, we're not going to have anything to put in place of poker chips."

"I can't help it, and I'm also not the only one eating it." Sakura replied, a hand covering her mouth as she chewed the candy.

"Sakura, shhh." Akara—Shinji's wife—said, having also been eating candy at that moment. She laughed along with the others.

They were currently hanging out playing a bit of poker in Shikamaru's living room. It was a handful of Shikamaru's cousins, Shikamaru, and Sakura. The adults had gone out together to have dinner. Shinji and his wife Akara, as well as his sixteen-year-old cousin, Yoshio, from his dad's side of the family was there. Then two of his cousins from his mom side were there, sisters Kira and Tamaki. Any of his cousins that were younger than fifteen were out with their parents.

"So," Sakura said, her eyes going to Kira and Tamaki. "I don't usually see you two around the village."

Kira shrugged. "Well when I turned sixteen this year, I was accepted into the anbu black ops. I'm still in training, and it takes up a lot of my time. Before that I was on missions often, trying to qualify for the anbu to accept me."

"My teammate, Sai, used to be involved with that," Sakura said, waving it off. "However, as soon as Danzo was gone, he distanced himself from it all. He didn't have much interest in it after all they put him through when Danzo was in charge."

"Lucky for me, Danzo was gone before I got involved with it all," Kira said, her smile warming on her face. "It's been a great experience so far. I'm just so busy now though."

Sakura nodded, as her eyes moved to Tamaki. "What about you?"

"As anti-social as this is about to sound. I'm just not that much of a people person, and don't really go out that much." Tamaki replied.

That had both Sakura and Shikamaru sharing a look and smirking, as Sakura said, "Same."

"But Sakura," Akara started, as she motioned to the slightly younger woman. "You seem like such a social butterfly."

Sakura waved a hand, and took a sip of her beer. "I mean I guess I can be. I'd just rather be at home with my furbabies, and never talk to anyone ever."

"That's like music to my ears." Kamaki said, sharing a grin with Sakura.

Yoshio grew a smirk on his face, as his eyes were on Shikamaru. "It must run strongly in both of our families for Shikamaru to turn out the way he is."

The others had laughed at that, but Shikamaru's eye twitched. "What exactly is wrong with me?"

"Absolutely nothing." Sakura spoke quickly, as she leaned over to kiss his cheek. Noticing that had softened his expression, she finished her beer, and stood up. "I'm thinking about switching over to margaritas. I'm kind of over beer."

Akara clapped her hands together. "Yes, tequila is my favorite thing."

"I know," Shinji said, his arm wrapping around his wife. "Our daughter existing right now is proof of that."

Sakura, who had gone over to the kitchen, paused after getting tequila out of the cabinet. "Speaking of, where is Kazumi tonight."

"She's with my parents." Akara explained.

"Oh," Sakura said, grabbing the blender from where it was stored under one of the counters. "Well, then we have no limits tonight then. No responsibilities."

"Exactly." Akara agreed at the same time Shinji groaned and said, "Oh great."

Shikamaru got up from the couch, and walked over to the kitchen. Leaning against the counter top, he watched as Sakura grabbed some limes out of the refrigerator. Noticing his cousins were distracted by something on the TV, he smiled in Sakura's direction. "So you seem to be getting along with my cousins pretty well."

"I've known Shinji, Akara, and Yoshio for months. And I know that I just met Kira and Tamaki today, but they seem really nice," Sakura said, then she chuckled. "Of course, I'm also a really likeable person."

Shikamaru laughed along with her. Watching her start to open the tequila bottle, his eyes went over to his cousins. "I'm not exactly too thrilled with the idea of watching my younger cousins drink."

"Oh please," Tamaki said, waving off his words. "Shinji and Akara are four years older than you. Kira and Yoshio are sixteen. I'm fifteen, only three years younger than you."

"Almost four years." Shikamaru corrected.

Yoshio shrugged. "I'm not much of a tequila person, so I don't really care."

"Well I do," Tamaki replied, her eyes on Shikamaru. "Just because you weren't cool and drank alcohol when you were my age, doesn't mean the rest of us have to suffer."

While that clearly irritated Shikamaru, Sakura laughed it off. "Oh it's okay Shikamaru. I was doing a lot worse when I was fifteen. It's not that big of a deal."

Shikamaru lost his irritation as he smirked at her. "That's not comforting at all," he said, chuckling as the others laughed. "It's not so much as if I care that you drink Tamaki. It's more or less the fact that my mom would kill me if she found out I was the one giving you the alcohol."

"Technically I'm making the margaritas," Sakura corrected, then she shrugged. "I'm sure your mom wouldn't be that mad. She's pretty cool."

"You're not her child though," Shikamaru pointed out, his eyes widening at how much tequila Sakura was putting into the blender. "We're not trying to die tonight."

Realizing he was referring to how much tequila she was adding, Sakura smirked. "It's not even that much."

Unable to help but laugh, Shikamaru reached over to wrap an arm around her. "I think you and I have a very different definition on what is classified as "too much", Sakura."

"You survived my birthday," Sakura pointed out, smiling at how close Shikamaru was. "So I don't know what you're worried about."

"Let's not use your birthday as a reference," Shikamaru shot back, smirking at how she laughed. Closing in, he kissed her cheek, and finally let her go. "We're all going to regret this in the morning."

 **The next morning**

Waking up to an alarm blaring in their ears, Shikamaru was quick to reach over Sakura, and turn the alarm off. Grumbling lowly, he returned back to laying down, as his arm slipped around Sakura. "Dear kami..."

"I'm pretty sure I'm dying," Sakura mumbled back, trying to bury her face further into the pillows. "Like for real this time."

"You put too much tequila in those margaritas." Shikamaru said, pulling her closer to him, as he wrapped his arm closer around her.

Smiling at how close he was, Sakura nuzzled her head against his chest. "It wasn't that bad."

"Really? It doesn't feel bad right now?"

"Maybe a little..."

Shikamaru chuckled. "I don't know why you didn't just drink the tequila straight out of the bottle at one point."

"I did actually," Sakura said, a hand moving to her forehead. "This hangover feels worse than the one I had the morning after my birthday. Which says a lot, because I'm pretty sure I also died of alcohol poisoning that day."

"I honestly don't know how that hasn't already happened," Shikamaru said, laughing along with Sakura. After a few minutes, he sighed and kissed her. "Okay, as much as I would love to just stay here all day, we need to get up. My mom planned a lunch with the family today. If I don't get up and at least look like I'm being helpful, she'll come in here and drag me out of bed."

Sakura reached over and pulled him back down when he had started to sit up. "Five more minutes?"

Smirking, Shikamaru nodded, and caressed her cheek. "Okay, but if she comes in here, then I'm blaming it on you."

"I'm okay with that." Sakura replied with a smile.

 **A** **n hour** **later**

The family had slowly started to gather at Shikamaru's house, and Sakura and Shikamaru had kept mostly out of the way by sitting on the porch swing. Baby was resting on Sakura's lap, as that was the safest space away from the dogs and Shikamaru's younger cousins who were running around.

"Yeah well, it looks like some of our kids had a lot of fun last night." Yoshino was saying to Shikamaru's aunt Sumiko.

"I would just like to blame it on Sakura," Shikamaru pointed out before his mom could say anything to him.

"Excuse me?" Sakura countered, an eyebrow raised.

"You are a terrible influence," Shikamaru said, having to dodge her fist. He chuckled. "I'm just kidding, mostly."

"Yoshio shouldn't be drinking period." Sumiko said, her eyes on her eldest son, who was clearly still feeling the hangover.

"Mom, it's not like it was my first time drinking-"

"What do you mean by that?" Sumiko interrupted, her hand propped on her hip.

"To be fair, Sakura and I did most of the tequila drinking." Akara said from where she was sitting with her baby, Kazumi on her lap. A little hungover herself, but was drinking a lot of coffee.

Yoshino nodded, as her eyes swept from Sumiko to Azami, both of her sisters-in-law. "At least they were doing it here. Although my sister was not too happy with her daughters when they got home last night. She sent me a pretty irritated message this morning… Which is funny because she acts like we didn't do stuff like that when we were her age."

"I guess that's true," Sumiko agreed, a smirk on her face. "I mean Shikaku never wanted to drink with me since I was considered his baby sister and all, but I mean I was thrilled when he started dating you. I finally had someone to drink with. We used to have so much fun."

"I just can't picture you drinking, mom. Or having fun." Shikamaru said, smirking at his mom's eye roll.

"I used to be a lot of fun back in the day, thank you very much." Yoshino shot back, smiling as she noticed that had her husband chuckling from where he was on the other side of the porch with his brother and brother-in-law.

Sakura waved off Shikamaru's raised eyebrow, and smiled at Yoshino. "I don't know what you're talking about. You're still plenty of fun."

"Sakura." Shikamaru muttered, smirking.

"No I mean it," Sakura said, nudging Shikamaru's shoulder. "There are only a small number of adults that I can actually have fun around, and your mother is one of them."

"We're technically adults too you know? Young adults, but still." Shikamaru reminded, noticing that made Sakura laugh.

"I mean like real adults," Sakura explained. "We're like fake adults. We're old enough to be legally considered adults, but we still rely heavily on our parents to make sure we don't completely screw up our lives… Well, we're supposed to. I tend to just go ahead and screw something in my life, then my parents have to come in and fix it. You know what I'm saying though, right?"

"No Sakura, I do not know what you're saying. That does not make sense to me." Shikamaru countered, as he and his relatives laugh. Sakura joined in after a moment, however he laughter stopped when she noticed a few ninja approaching the yard.

"What's that about?" Shinji asked, noticing how the group of ninja were all anbu ranked, and looked rather serious as they approached.

Both Shikaku and Shikamaru had stood up, as the men had stopped near the porch. Shikaku clearing his throat. "What can we do for you gentlemen?"

One of the anbu stepped forward, removed his mask, and motioned past Shikaku in the direction of the swing. "We're here for her actually."

Everyone's eyes followed to where he was pointing directly at Sakura. Shikamaru had leaned over to her eye level. "What did you do?"

While that made some of his family laugh, Sakura waved it off, not really worried. "Nothing," she said, getting up and putting Baby back on the swing. A thoughtful look on her face, as she paused beside Shikamaru. "Well, probably nothing."

"Sakura." Shikamaru hissed her name under his breath.

Walking around some of the younger cousins who were sitting on the porch, Sakura went down the few steps on the front porch. Shadow and Tank eagerly following her, but stay seated on the porch at the motion of her hand. She smiled at the group of anbu. "What can I do for you?"

The one who had spoken up to Shikaku, stepped forward, and held up a black tablet. "State your full name."

Sakura was quiet for a long moment, then she sighed. "Sakura Haruno."

The guy hit a few buttons on the tablet, and held it out to her. "Fingerprints."

Sakura lifted her hand, and lightly pressed her fingertips to the tablet. After it scanned them, she smirked. "So what's next? Do I need to give a blood sample? Or is this all it takes to sign my soul over to the devil?"

"Your attempt at a joke is not funny." The guy replied, handing her a stylus to sign in one last place.

"Well your sense of humor could use some work," Sakura shot back, and she signed her name. Her eyes narrowing as she looked at the guys behind him. "Do you always travel with your posse?"

That actually got some snickers from Shikamaru's cousins.

Sakura smirked, but didn't push it. "I'm already bored, if you don't get to the point-"

"Here," the guy interrupted her, handing the tablet back, after closing the cover on it. "You have two hours to review it, and then return with your assessment."

"Yeah okay," Sakura said, as she took the tablet. "But what exactly am I assessing-"

"It is my duty to tell you that this is an extremely classified file, and sharing this information with anyone else will lead you in federal prison. You signed to that effect."

Sakura laughed, then shook her head. "You know that's something you tell someone before they sign it."

The guy deadpanned as he leaned closer to her. "Miss. Haruno, this is not the first time we have met like this. You are fully aware of the guidelines and legal obligations to this. You know that it is just part of my job to verbally explain that to you before the end of our encounter."

Sakura propped one of her hands back on her hips, as she smirked at the guy. "You know we've unfortunately got to stop our meetings. I have a boyfriend now, and he gets really jealous."

While that had some of his cousins snickering, and his other relatives smirking, Shikamaru slapped a hand to his forehead. "Sakura."

The guy only stared back at Sakura in silence for a long moment, then he sighed and turned away. With one hand motion two the masked anbu members, moved to stand by Sakura, and the other started to walk away with the guy.

Sakura instantly narrowed her eyes. "Oh no, I'm not going to be babysat-"

"We go through this every time," the guy interrupted her, pausing to look back at her. "I've learned that you regularly get yourself into trouble. With that document in your hands, you will not be allowed to die."

"So it's acceptable for me to die any other day?" Sakura questioned, before telling the guy "I'm just joking. Jeez, you need to smile more."

"We'll be seeing you in a couple hours." The guy said before turning and leaving with the rest of his men. Putting his anbu mask on his face, before they disappeared.

Sakura sighed as she looked between the two that had stayed with her, and she turned to go up on the porch. Looking over her shoulder at the two. "Stay."

While it looked like the two were going to follow anyways, one growl from Shadow and Tank was all it took to keep them at bay. Sakura just smiled at her dogs. "Good boys. Be sure to teach the other puppy dogs some manners."

"Haruno." Came from one of the two anbu.

Laughing, Sakura moved back to the swing to pick Baby up. Her eyes met Shikamaru's, and she shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal. Occasionally I do work for the council. Not our council, but the Kage council. You know the one for all of the kage's-" she broke off when one of the anbu cleared their throat. "What? It's not like I told them anything specific. Chill out."

That brought some chuckles from the others, and Shikamaru returned to sitting on the swing. "So does this mean you're skipping lunch?"

"I don't think so. This shouldn't take me too long, unless they screwed up big time," Sakura countered, as she leaned over to kiss Shikamaru. "I'm going to put Baby inside, if you would keep an eye on Shadow and Tank that would be great."

"Yeah of course," Shikamaru said, watching as Sakura went to put Baby inside the house, and how she had to keep Shadow and Tank from following her off the porch. "Have fun!"

"I won't, but thanks for the encouragement!" Sakura called back, as she waved back at him.

 **An hour later**

Having finally sat down for lunch, Shikamaru had been trying to stay out of the conversation, as his eyes focused on the blue sky above them. The sound of a cat's meow was heard, and he looked over to see Baby was scratching at the screen door that kept her in the sunroom. "Just ignore her, she'll stop eventually."

"It's so hard to ignore her though," his aunt Sumiko said, smiling in the direction of the cat. "She's so cute."

Shikamaru deadpanned. "I would strongly disagree with that statement."

"Shikamaru she's really sweet-"

"Mom," Shikamaru interrupted, shaking his head. "For some strange reason she really likes both you and dad. However, I can promise you that she loses her cuteness when you get woke up by her digging her claws into your face, or biting you for absolutely no reason whatsoever."

"You're just not loving her properly." Sakura's voice was heard, as she walked around the side of the house, her eyes twinkling. Both Shadow and Tank had got up from where they were laying around the Nara's feet, and went over to greet her.

Shikamaru smirked as Sakura had come over, and he kissed her before she sat down in the chair next to him. "You weren't kidding about it only taking an hour."

"It was an easier fix than I thought. It only took me twenty minutes, but I wanted to stay a bit longer to make sure they implemented the changes correctly." Sakura replied, reaching over for the pitcher of tea to pour into the glass at her place setting.

Grabbing the pitcher before she could, Shikamaru poured the tea in her glass. "Of course."

"So what was that all about?" Shikaku asked the question they all had been thinking.

"Just some tech support really. I can't go into specifics," Sakura said, taking a sip of the tea after Shikamaru had filled up the glass. "Like really, I can't talk about it. If it got back to them they could have me arrested. Like not just like arrested in the Leaf village, I mean like arrested by the government that oversee's all the ninja nations. Which honestly probably wouldn't be too bad. Saying something I shouldn't have wouldn't be the worst thing I've been arrested for."

Shikamaru choked on his drink a little, and that made everyone else laugh.

Sakura only rested a hand on his back. "Are you okay?"

"Are you?" Shikamaru countered, wiping his mouth with a napkin, as he looked at her wide-eyed. "You've been arrested?"

Sakura waved off his question. "Don't worry, the charges were dropped."

Shikamaru deadpanned, as the others laughed. "Oh well, that just made all of my concerns disappear."

 **A couple of hours later**

Settling on the top step on the front porch, Sakura and Shikamaru were watching as Shadow and Tank were running around the front yard. After they finished eating, there was a lot more socializing, and finally his relatives had slowly left.

Sakura had her head resting on Shikamaru's shoulder, and was enjoying the feeling of his arm wrapped around her. "I wish you didn't have to go..."

Shikamaru sighed, looking down at the ninja gear he had on. He got a message from the Hokage that his team was set to go on a mission, and to get prepared to come to the office for a mission brief. "It should only be a few days."

"I know," Sakura said, groaning lowly at the thought. "With my luck my team will get a mission on the day you are supposed to come back. Honestly, I'm pretty sure Tsunade is trying to get in the way of our relationship."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure that's why she's assigning us missions. Not because of the fact that it is apart of our jobs or anything like that."

"I know right?" Sakura countered, laughing along with him this time. When their laughter settled, she sighed, and nuzzled her nose into his shoulder. "Be careful, okay?"

"I always am," Shikamaru said, kissing the top of her head, he rubbed her arm a little. Another minute past, and she still hadn't moved. "As much as I'd like to stay here, I have to get going soon. You know how Ino gets when she has to wait."

"I know..." Sakura trailed off, remaining where she was for another minute, then she sighed ad finally lifted her head off his shoulder. Her eyes meeting his, she smiled lightly. "I'm going to miss you."

Standing up, Shikamaru pulled Sakura to her feet, and gave her a long tender kiss. When their kiss broke, he rested his forehead on hers for a moment of silence. "Okay, I'm going to go meet up with my team. I'll be back in a few days."

"Bye… Be careful!" Sakura called after him, as he started to walk away from the house. Sighing heavily, she brought her hand to rest on Shadow's back, and she had to whistle to keep Tank from following Shikamaru out of the yard. _I'm going to miss him._

 **That evening**

Taking a long drink from her wine glass, Sakura sighed as she leaned her head back against the tub. She had a nice dinner, and was trying to relax with a glass of wine and a bubble bath. However, with Baby walking along the edge of the bathtub, she couldn't fully relax, as she was anticipating a small miss-step that would lead to Baby in the bath with her. Then the following hundred scratches she would get from trying to rescue Baby from the water was starting to grow unsettling. "Can't you just go lay in my sink or something? That's a lot less dangerous."

Baby only meowed, and bumped her head up against Sakura's hand for some attention.

The sound of knocking on the front door was heard, and Sakura sighed heavily. "You've got to be kidding me… Whoever it is, is just going to have to-"

The door opening interrupted Sakura, and she raised an eyebrow. Shadow and Tank both got up to trot out of the bathroom to go see who it was, and when she didn't hear barking she realized she was fine. "Welcome to my house!"

"You're alone right?" Hinata's voice countered, as she appeared in the doorway of Sakura's bathroom. Both Shadow and Tank coming back into the bathroom, as they've determined there was no stranger in the apartment. "Good."

"Thanks for waiting for me to respond," Sakura replied, laughing at the thought. "If I was with Shikamaru or something, he'd probably be pissed if you just walked into the bathroom."

"Well it wouldn't have been my fault if the door was open," Hinata said, noting the wine glass in her hand. "Oh good, you're already drinking."

'

Sakura smirked as Hinata had put a fresh new wine bottle on the bathroom counter. "You came prepared though, and I appreciate that. I just opened a wine bottle in the kitchen, you can-" She broke off when Hinata was already leaving the room. "Help yourself!"

Hinata returned back after a moment, and sat down on the floor next to Shadow and Tank. Drinking from her freshly poured wine, she held a deep frown on her face. "So why isn't Shikamaru here?"

"He got sent on a mission with his team," Sakura replied, motioning towards Hinata. "More importantly, you look pissed. Weren't you supposed to go on a date with Naruto?"

Hinata deadpanned. "I don't want to talk about it."

Whistling lowly, Sakura smirked as she focused back on Baby, who had made her way back around the rim of the bathtub, and had stepped on her shoulder. "Baby, Hinata's in a mood, and I see a lot of destructive drinking in our future."

"Cheers to that," Hinata said, holding out her wine glass to clink with Sakura. Before she took a long drink. "I'm sleeping over."

"I figured," Sakura said, eyeing Hinata's pajamas. "Once I finish what was supposed to be a relaxing bath, I'll get in my pajamas too, then we can watch movies and not talk about what Naruto did to piss you off."

"Sounds good." Hinata agreed, taking another drink from her wine glass, before she laid back across the rug on the bathroom floor. Her head resting against Tank, who had thumped his tail against the floor when Hinata had gotten so close to him.

A half hour went by and Sakura and Hinata were out of the bathroom. Sakura was now dressed in pajamas, and had just popped some popcorn. Walking out of the kitchen, she joined Hinata on the couch, as her eyes went to the screen to see what movie Hinata ended up picking out. At Hinata had the screen paused, and was now eating popcorn quickly. "So do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Hinata said, chewing the popcorn her mouth, before she sighed. "It's just really annoying."

"Naruto's an idiot, what else is new?"

"He's not an idiot… He can be a little dense sometimes," Hinata countered, sighing heavily at the thought. "It's just that I got all dressed up and looked really cute, and we went out to dinner. Everything was going great, and when we go back to his apartment, he falls asleep! Like excuse me? I didn't put all this effort into looking cute for him to just go to sleep."

"I would say it's unusual for him to do something like that, but that's so him," Sakura said, waving off Hinata's annoyance. "He probably has no idea that he did something wrong. Like you said, he can be pretty dense."

The tension in Hinata's shoulders, slowly lessened, and she finally relaxed back. "Yeah, I guess I'll just have to get him to make it up to me, and maybe we can go on a trip for a few days. Just the two of us."

"That would be fun. I can spend those days relaxed, as that means I can get out of training while he's gone," Sakura said, then she sighed heavily. "Of course it's not like I have much to distract me, because my boyfriend is out of the village on a mission."

"You have your furbabies." Hinata pointed out, motioning to the dogs on the floor, and where Baby was sitting on the top of the couch behind them.

"That's true," Sakura said, scratching behind Baby's ears, then she smiled at Hinata. "Maybe we can have a boys free day for the next couple days. We can go to the hot springs or go and get blackout drunk and see where we end up by the time we sobered up."

Hinata laughed. "I like that idea. Too bad Ino and Tenten are both out of the village on missions."

"Don't worry," Sakura said, waving it off, as she reached for her glass of wine. "You and I are much more self-destructive when it's just the two of us, and we have a lot more fun."

Hinata smirked. "That's not a good thing."

"It really just depends on how you look at it." Sakura countered, laughing along with Hinata, as they settled back to start the movie. _An unexpected girls night is just what I needed._

* * *

 **A/N: I think my favorite scene this chapter would be between meeting some of Shikamaru's cousins from his mom's side, as well as the morning Shikamaru and Sakura wake up hungover. What was your favorite?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**


	12. Spending Time Together

_Review:_

" _Don't worry," Sakura said, waving it off, as she reached for her glass of wine. "You and I are much more self-destructive when it's just the two of us, and we have a lot more fun."_

 _Hinata smirked. "That's not a good thing."_

" _It really just depends on how you look at it." Sakura countered, laughing along with Hinata, as they settled back to start the movie. An unexpected girls night is just what I needed._

* * *

 **Two and a half weeks later, October 8th**

Walking out of the Hokage tower, Sakura had to rub her temples to try to ease the oncoming headache caused by her two teammates arguing. Like she had anticipated, within a few hours of Shikamaru and his team were supposed to return to the village, her own team got sent on a week-long mission, and they had just given the Hokage the mission report.

"I just don't understand why every time we give a mission report, you're the only one who's allowed to talk." Naruto was saying, bringing her back into his and Sai's argument.

"I was given lead on the mission," Sakura pointed out, trying her best to keep her cool. "The team's captain is usually in charge of the mission report."

" _Usually_ doesn't mean all the time," Sai pointed out, as he and Naruto were both focused in on their pink haired teammate now. "You could be a nice person and let one of us doing it sometime. It's not our fault that you're always picked to be the captain-"

"Maybe if you two were such idiots, you would get picked to be captain," Sakura countered, clenching and unclenching her fists. "You two think it's so easy being a captain. Do you know how much paperwork I have to fill out before, during, and after a mission?"

"What does paperwork have to do with anything?" Naruto countered, his arms crossed.

"We have to have records of all aspects of our missions bone-head!" Sakura shot back, her cool slowly being replaced with angry fire. "That paperwork usually gets doubled too, because one or both of you usually do something stupid or you get injured. I don't want to hear you complaining or thinking my job is easy-"

"I think you're making that up." Naruto interrupted her, nodding along with Sai.

"Yeah, she's probably just saying that so we'll never get our turn to do the mission brief," Sai agreed, waving off Sakura's words. "Maybe if you would let us do the mission brief or take lead, you wouldn't be so stressed out and high maintenance all the time."

"If we were to put you or Naruto in charge of anything, the entire village would be up in flames in a matter of minutes. You two need to just get over it, and be glad I'm here to take care of all the technical aspects of our missions, so you two can walk around thinking everything's so easy." Sakura shot back.

"Sakura, you're so bossy sometimes-"

"Enough!" Sakura snapped, interrupting Naruto, as she spun around to glare at them both. "If you two do not leave me along in the next five seconds, I will-" She broke off, as both Naruto and Sai had started running the second she turned around to face them. Growling with irritation, she started in the direction of the Inuzuka's to pick up her furbabies.

A half hour later, she was back in her apartment, and enjoying a nice hot shower. The animals had settled into being back home fairly quickly, and she took their moment of relaxation to get in the shower. After having spent the last week with Naruto and Sai, mostly sleeping outside, she enjoyed the luxury of being able to take a long hot uninterrupted shower.

However, the sound of the front door opening and both dogs barking got her attention. She relaxed once she could faintly hear Shikamaru's voice telling them to calm down. She smiled when he had appeared in the doorway of the bathroom. His appearance was like that of a shadow with the foggy up glassy walls of the shower. "Hey stranger."

"Is that all you have to say to me after leaving me alone to suffer for a whole week?" Shikamaru countered jokingly.

Turning so she could let the water fall over her head to wash the shampoo out, Sakura laughed. "I'm sorry, I gave you a warning ahead of time in case you forgot. I got the mission the same day you were set to come back to the village. I told you that Tsunade was trying to get in the way of our relationship."

"How did that mission go by the way?"

"The mission itself was a piece of cake," Sakura replied, closing her eyes to keep the shampoo from getting in them. "It was the argument with my teammates after that put a whole lot of unnecessary stress on my shoulders. It felt like we were gone forever though."

"I felt like you were gone forever too." Shikamaru agreed, his voice much closer, as the shower door was heard opening then closing again.

Sakura opened her eyes, and smiled as Shikamaru's hands were at her waist. "You're naked."

"So are you." Shikamaru countered, closing the distance between them to kiss her.

"I'm trying to take a shower-"

"Look," Shikamaru interrupted, his hand reaching up to pull his hair down, then he turned them so he was the one under the stream of water. "So am I."

"Fair enough." Sakura said, smiling as they kissed again.

 **Over an hour later**

"It's so much colder out now."

"No, it's not," Shikamaru disagreed, smirking at the sight of Sakura pulling at the long sleeves of the sweater she had put on just before they left her apartment. "It doesn't really even get cold until the end of October usually."

"Well, it's colder than normal." Sakura shot back, sticking out her tongue at him.

"That wouldn't have anything to do with us walking by the frozen food aisle would it?" Shikamaru countered, his smirk growing at how Sakura had been trying to walk as far from the freezer section that she could possibly be.

"A little bit," Sakura replied, laughing along with Shikamaru as they stopped at the pet aisle next. Grabbing food for Shadow and Tank, she set it in the grocery cart, before sighing and continuing on. "I feel like every time I come here I end up buying so much… I'm terrible at grocery shopping regularly."

Shikamaru adjusted the dog food so it wasn't crushing other groceries in the cart. "I don't think it's that you're terrible at grocery shopping. You just let everyone come over to your apartment and eat your food, so it feels like you never have any."

Sakura laughed shortly and smirked. "If I didn't let Naruto and Sai eat at my place they would end of starving to death… Well, Sai might be okay, but there is no hope for Naruto."

They both laughed at that, as they walked down the liquor aisle next. Shikamaru raising an eyebrow at her stopping in front of the wall of what seemed like never-ending wine bottles. "You are certainly never unprepared with alcohol though..." he trailed off, watching her put a couple of wine bottles in the cart, then turn right to the tequila. "Oh no, I already sense a disaster coming."

"My tequila stash is dangerously low," Sakura replied, grabbing a couple of bottles of her favorite off the shelf. "I need to restock just in case Hinata or I have an over-dramatic life disaster happen and we need it."

"I thought that's what the wine was for."

"No that's just for normal life disasters or stupid boyfriends."

Shikamaru deadpanned back at her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Sakura replied, a cheeky smile on her face, as she put the tequila in the cart. "Of course Naruto and Hinata are not technically officially in a relationship, but you know same concepts apply I guess."

"Changing the subject," Shikamaru said, as they moved to the register. He helped her start to put the items on the counter. "Since we're both not really supposed to be all that busy the next few days, I thought we could do things."

Sakura hummed after greeting the cashier. Her eyes gliding over to Shikamaru. "Don't you have training tomorrow-"

"Shhh." Shikamaru interrupted, smiling as that had made her laugh.

Sakura focused on holding a light conversation with the cashier, who had finished up scanning her groceries. After paying for everything, she made a few shadow clones to take some of the groceries ahead of them to her apartment, and she and Shikamaru took a couple of bags themselves. Once outside the store, her eyes returned to him. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'm not set on anything exactly," Shikamaru said with a shrug. "I just think it'd be nice if we could spend some time together."

"Okay, well I'm sure we could find something to do. There are tons of fun things to do around this time of year," Sakura said, her eyes leaving his to survey some of the shops they walked past that were being decorated for Halloween. "I need to put up decorations for Halloween at my apartment."

"Hmmm, I guess that's what my mother was doing when I left the house today… Decorating isn't really something I'm too interested in." Shikamaru said, noticing that brought Sakura to laugh.

"Really? I had no idea after having to struggle trying to get you to help plan the Nara party and festival," Sakura replied, her sarcasm fading to humor as she laughed again. "While I wouldn't say that I aspire to be a party planner, I do like to decorate things. When it's for a holiday it just gets out of control though. I buy way too many decorations, then my apartment basically explodes with whatever holiday I'm celebrating. It makes me happy though."

Shikamaru smiled hearing that. "Well, maybe I can make an exception. We can decorate your apartment together, and you can attempt to show me the fun in decorating."

"Well I also tend to drink when I do it," Sakura said, waving a hand. "So that's probably where a lot of the fun comes from."

"Great." Shikamaru said, smirking as Sakura laughed.

 **A couple of hours later**

Sipping on her wine, Sakura's eyes swept around her now fully decorated apartment. They had put her groceries away when they got here, and ate dinner while putting up Halloween decorations.

"So," Shikamaru started, putting his own wine glass on the coffee table, and wrapping his arms around Sakura to pull her closer. "I think we should go hiking in a couple days. As you said, I do have training tomorrow morning and afternoon. Plus I think my mom wants us to come for dinner tomorrow. So we can move hiking to two days from now."

Settling her head back against Shikamaru's chest, Sakura's eyes were focused on Shadow and Tank who were both on the other end of the couch. Although there was another couch that was free that neither of them seemed interested in. "I think Shadow and Tank would like that very much.

"Maybe we can have lunch at my spot."

Sakura smiled. "Yes the very exclusive spot that I'm finally allowed to go to without being considered a trespasser or an over-glorified guest."

"That's right." Shikamaru chuckled. "As for what else we are going to do… I think that would be better to keep a surprise."

"Let me guess," Sakura started, moving her head so she could look at him. "You don't have any plans past hiking and lunch, and will just make stuff up as we go."

Shikamaru smirked, as he leaned his head down to kiss her. "That's about right. I just want to spend time together after not seeing each other last week."

"I can agree with that," Sakura said, moving her head back to rest on his chest, after taking another sip of wine. "We don't have to have the whole day planned out. We have the next few days to spend together, and we'll find things to do each day. Besides, I'm pretty sure we'll make plans tomorrow, then after we go hiking and eat lunch, all those plans will go out the window."

"You're probably right," Shikamaru said, reaching over to the coffee table to grab the remote to start the movie they had planned to watch. "I think we should just plan to go hiking and have lunch, then be lazy for the rest of the day and watch movies."

Sakura hummed happily in thought, after setting her wine glass down. She grabbed the throw blanket from the back of the couch and spread it out over them. A warm smile appeared on her face, as Shikamaru used that opportunity to wrap his arms closer around her. "More of this? Sign me up."

 **A couple of days later**

Laying back on the picnic blanket, Sakura stretched her arms up, and sighed happily. "Wow, that was really good," she smiled and turned to nuzzle her head against Shikamaru's shoulder. "Thank you for making lunch."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it-" Shikamaru broke off, as Tank ran around them. Shadow got up to join him, as the two started playing and barking. Sighing at that, he let his head fall back on the picnic blanket. "I was just about to say how relaxed I was, but now I think this moment is losing its peace."

"Don't worry, you get used to it over the years," Sakura said, her smile growing at Shikamaru's raised eyebrow. "Okay, that's not exactly true, but they are having fun that's all that matters."

"Speaking of fun," Shikamaru started, adjusting so he could move his free arm back behind his head. His eyes focusing up the fluffy white clouds in the sky. "My mom was still pretty happy this morning after last night. You two went on a completely out of control baking journey last night."

"I don't think making Halloween cookies is out of control." Sakura disagreed.

Shikamaru met her eyes, and raised an eyebrow. "Two hundred Halloween cookies was out of control."

"We gave most of them away to your family and our friends. Speaking of Halloween sweets though," Sakura said, pulling out a bag of candy corn, and opening to grab a few. "This is by far my favorite part of the month of October."

Chuckling at that, Shikamaru took a piece from the bag that she offered him. "You and your candy."

"Just wait until it gets closer to Halloween and we have to go out and buy candy for trick-or-treaters. That's going to be so much fun."

"Are we even going to be at your apartment to give the candy out?"

"No, but I like to buy candy for the kids who are at the hospital on Halloween," Sakura said, grabbing another candy corn. "Plus I like to donate some to the booths they have set out in the village. They can always use donations."

Shikamaru smiled again, as he turned more on his side to face her. "Have I ever told you that I like how giving you are to others?"

Taking a break from her candy corn, Sakura smiled back at Shikamaru. "I like to help people."

"I-" Shikamaru broke off when the sound of water splashing was heard, and both he and Sakura sat right up. Looking down towards the bottom of the small hill at the pond, they were greeted by the sight of Shadow and Tank running in and out of the water.

Groaning, Sakura slapped a hand to her forehead. "I just gave them a bath last night after they rolled around in the leaf piles in your yard."

"I hate to break it to you," Shikamaru said, smirking at the sight of the dogs running back out of the water, and flopping down on a portion of grass that had some dirt spots. "But I don't think they care."

"No they do not."

Nudging Sakura's shoulder, Shikamaru got her to look at him. "All that matters is that they are having fun right?"

A smile broke on Sakura's face. "Do not use my own words against me."

"So new plan," Shikamaru said, as Shadow and Tank came back up the hill towards them. "We'll go back to your apartment and give the dogs a bath. Then we'll go over to my parents house after getting you re-stocked on candy corn, then we'll have dinner and enjoy the rest of our evening relaxing like we should be now."

"That sounds like a great plan," Sakura said, reaching out to pet Shadow and Tank when they laid down next to them. "Especially the part about the candy corn."

 **Later that evening**

"I feel like I still smell wet dog everywhere."

"I think you're just imagining things, Sakura," Shikamaru said, as they turned down the main street that would lead them to the village gates. "We washed the dogs hours ago, and then we took a shower afterward too."

Smiling at the reminder, Sakura looped her arm through his. "That I do remember."

As they were getting closer to the village gates, Shikamaru sighed. "Are you sure we should do this? It's not too late to turn back now."

"Yes it is," Sakura said, motioning ahead of them Naruto, Hinata, Ino, and Sai were waiting by the gate. "It looks like they have caught sight of us."

"Damn it," Shikamaru cursed, although he smirked as that made Sakura laugh. "When I said I wanted to spend a few days just the two of us, I meant just the two of us. Not the two of us and other people."

Sakura paused their walking to kiss his cheek. "We are going to have fun with our friends. We are going to be like normal people our age, and go out and have fun for a change."

"Do we not have fun already?"

"I mean we do. Personally, the idea of sitting around and doing nothing all day is my cup of tea in a perfect world," Sakura replied, then she grinned. "But it's not a perfect world. If I'm not working I get anxious, and it's not like any of our friends would leave us alone long enough to do nothing and enjoy it. So we're going to try to be happy spending time with our friends like normal people our age. Besides, we haven't spent much time with our friends lately."

Shikamaru smirked as they started walking again. "I'm glad we're on the same page of dreading this."

"Yes, we just have to dread this quietly," Sakura said, then they finally got over to the others. "Okay, let's get this over with."

"Way to sound enthusiastic Sakura." Ino said, shaking her head as she started walking out the gate, as they were heading to a pumpkin patch that was a few minutes outside the village to the North. Sai jogged to catch up with her.

Hinata smiled at Sakura. "I'm honestly surprised you two showed up."

"And why is that?" Sakura countered, as they started walking after Sai and Ino. "You know I love carving pumpkins."

"You two hardly come out with the rest of us anymore," Hinata said, raising an eyebrow as that brought a laugh from Sakura and Shikamaru. "What?"

"How does that always happen?" Shikamaru asked Sakura, his eyes going from her to Hinata. "Sakura was just saying how we don't spend time with other people that much lately. How do you two always know what the other person is thinking?"

"It's a gift." Sakura and Hinata chorused.

"I barely know what either of you are thinking ever," Naruto said, his arms crossed over his chest. "Which doesn't seem fair. Because I should be able to know what Sakura is thinking, because we go on missions together and have to work together a lot. And I should be able to know what Hinata is thinking because-..."

"Because what, Naruto?" Sakura asked, a smirk on her face now. "Why should you be able to know what Hinata is thinking?"

"Sakura." Hinata scowled at Sakura's teasing tone, as she just grabbed Naruto by the elbow and they caught up to Ino and Sai.

Shikamaru's eyes moved to Sakura, who was grinning ear-to-ear. "You've managed to irritate everyone and we've only been with them for less than two minutes."

"Yes, but now they are leaving us alone," Sakura said, as she motioned ahead of them at the others. "I win."

"No Sakura," Shikamaru laughed, as he took her hand. "You just said that we are supposed to go out with our friends and have fun. This is exactly the opposite of what the goal of this was."

Sakura hummed thoughtfully. "Oh yeah. Maybe I just too anti-social."

"More like you like to irritate people on purpose," Shikamaru replied, before he quickened his pace a bit to catch up with the others. "Sorry for Sakura's attitude everyone, she's going to try to be more cheerful about socializing with other people."

"We'll see," Sakura added, laughing as Shikamaru poked her side. "I actually want to do this. I am mostly looking forward to the food I am going to make with the pumpkins than anything though."

"I second that." Naruto agreed, as Sai said, "Me too."

They reached the pumpkin patch, that already had quite a lot of people at it. They all kind of went there separate ways to pick out their pumpkins. Shikamaru raising an eyebrow at how seriously Sakura was looking at a few pumpkins. "You are taking this very seriously. I've never seen someone look at a pumpkin so seriously."

"I just want to make sure I pick out a good one," Sakura replied, picking one up and putting it right back down. "Some pumpkins are good for food, and some are good for carving."

"So what you're saying is that we are going to be leaving here with multiple pumpkins?" Shikamaru asked, smirking at her nodding. "What kind of food are you planning on making?"

Finally picking out one of the pumpkins she wanted to use for the food she was planning on making, Sakura straightened up, and the walked down to another section of pumpkins. "Not much really. Just pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie. Oh and I want to roast the pumpkin seeds. Oh and you know what would be good is some pumpkin gingerbread cookies-"

"Okay, before you get anymore ideas," Shikamaru said, holding up a hand to stop her. "I wasn't going to tell you this and let it be a surprise, but my mom is making caramel apples at home too."

"Oh really?!" Sakura exclaimed, laughing as she nearly dropped the pumpkin she was holding. "I love caramel apples."

"I know, that's why I wanted it to be a surprise," Shikamaru said, reaching over to take the pumpkin from her. "However, you need to take it easy on all the pumpkin flavored dessert ideas, because there is no way we could eat all of that stuff."

Sakura motioned in the two directions their friends were at. "That's why we have friends."

Unable to help himself, Shikamaru laughed and when it finally settled down, he smiled at her. "I knew there was a reason."

Ino and Sai walked over just after Shikamaru spoke, Ino already having picked out a pumpkin. "Hey so we haven't talked about Halloween yet."

"We still have three weeks left of October," Sai said, an eyebrow raised. "We have plenty of time until Halloween."

Ino nodded. "Exactly, we need to start planning now."

"I'm not following," Shikamaru said, as Sai said, "Sure, I guess."

"So Halloween?" Ino asked, looking at some of the pumpkins Sakura was looking at.

Sakura picked up another pumpkin, and met Ino's eyes. "I don't know, I mean there's that party that we usually go to."

"What party is this?" Shikamaru asked, an eyebrow raise as that made Ino's eyes light up.

"Don't worry about it," Sai said, as the girls got distracted, hollering for Hinata to come over. "I went to it with them last year, and it's actually pretty fun. Which says a lot coming from me. A lot of our friends will be there, people from the Sand usually come. However, our only real job is to make sure our girlfriends don't die from alcohol poisoning. I usually don't have to worry about that with Ino, but Sakura and Hinata are completely different."

Shikamaru chuckled at that. "Oh and another thing. Something else that I didn't know is that apparently when you're dating someone, they want you to dress up in a costume that matches their costume."

"Ah," Sai started, chuckling at the thought. "I didn't know that was a thing until I spent nearly two hours at the mall with Ino yesterday wanting to rip my hair out."

"At least you got a say in what you wanted to wear. Sakura picked my costume out for me."

"Do you really think I got a say?"

"It's Ino, so probably not," Shikamaru replied, as he and Sai laughed. Their attention went back to the others who were wrapping up getting their pumpkins. His eyes moved to Sakura, who was now holding two pumpkins. "Only two more?"

"Naruto's holding my other one," Sakura replied, a grin stretching across her face. "I'm going to make the pumpkin gingerbread cookies anyways."

Shikamaru chuckled, as they started walking to the man who ran the pumpkin patch to pay. "So four pumpkins total. That's not as bad I was expecting."

"Why aren't you going to get one?" Sakura asked.

"I'm not really a pumpkin carving type of person," Shikamaru replied, before holding up the fourth pumpkin of hers. "Besides, your carving pumpkin is pretty big, so I'll be able to watch you carving it for a while."

"You can carve something on the other side of mine if you want. I've got enough room for it." Sakura offered, noticing how that made Shikamaru laugh.

"Thank you for wanting to include me," Shikamaru said, nudging her shoulder once they stopped in the line to pay. "However, I will happily participate in taste testing the food you make with all these pumpkins."

Sakura smiled and raised up on her toes a little to kiss his cheek. "I'm glad you'll get something out of this."

"I'll get that and we'll be spending time with our friends this evening while we all carve pumpkins and eat a bunch of pumpkin desserts," Shikamaru pointed out. "We're becoming normal people our age."

"Yes that is very true," Sakura said, laughing along with Shikamaru, then she sighed. "All these normal people activities kind of make me want to lie in bed all day and do nothing."

"Raincheck for tomorrow on that?"

Sakura nodded, as her smiled widened. "Sounds good to me."

* * *

 **A/N: Funfact, October is my favorite month of the year. Yes, it is mostly because of all the Halloween décor, but I love the weather around that time of year as well. The next chapter is going to be the Halloween chapter. What do you think Sakura and Shikamaru are going to dress up as?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**


	13. Halloween

_Review:_

" _I'll get that and we'll be spending time with our friends this evening while we all carve pumpkins and eat a bunch of pumpkin desserts," Shikamaru pointed out. "We're becoming normal people our age."_

" _Yes that is very true," Sakura said, laughing along with Shikamaru, then she sighed. "All these normal people activities kind of make me want to lie in bed all day and do nothing."_

" _Raincheck for tomorrow on that?"_

 _Sakura nodded, as her smiled widened. "Sounds good to me."_

* * *

 **A few weeks later, October 30th**

"Am I the only one that feels like we've been here for ten years?" Sakura asked, leaning her head back against the chair behind her. She was staring at the ceiling of the hair salon, and it was starting to make her feel like she's going crazy.

"We've only been here for barely an hour," Hinata said, she and Ino were both on the other aisle of chairs. "And you've let us know just how long that hour has been."

"She's complaining about me," Sakura said, as the woman who was coming over to wax her eyebrows chuckled. "After all the love I've given her. All the tequila and wine I've given her."

That brought laughter from everyone. Tenten settled in the chair next to Sakura's, as she was getting her eyebrows done as well. "I have to agree, you and Ino are way too picky about your hair cuts. Sakura and I were done within half an hour."

"Well, not everyone wants to keep the same hair cut and style for ten years like you two." Ino said, her eyes focusing on the magazine she was reading.

Sakura scoffed and flicked her freshly trimmed hair over her shoulder. "I'll have you know that I change my hair all the time."

"Yeah because you'll wake up one day and decide to chop all of your hair off out of nowhere." Ino shot back, as she rolled her eyes.

"You're not wrong," Sakura said, squirming a little in her chair, as the woman next to her was stirring the wax in the pot. "However, I am in a phase where I am trying to let it grow longer. That's why I voluntarily came to this torture session of waiting around for you two to take two hours to get your hair done. I needed to get mine trimmed to keep it healthy."

"As for me," Tenten cut into the conversation before Ino or Hinata could say anything. "I don't really care how long or short my hair gets, because I put it up in my two buns most of the time. Although I occasionally leave my hair down."

Hinata hummed and smiled at Tenten. "I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair down."

"It happens more now that she's dating Neji." Sakura pointed out, trying to relax her face, as the woman started applying the wax.

Tenten followed Sakura's lead as the other woman started on her eyebrows. "It's possible, but I mean I still like my two buns most of the time."

"Sure- damn it! I forgot how much this hurts!" Sakura exclaimed, instinctively rubbing the area where the woman just waxed. "I should have got drunk before doing this."

"We can go to a bar afterward for some day drinking." Tenten offered, grunting in pain at the woman tearing a strip of wax off her face.

"Oh joy," Ino started sarcastically. "I didn't realize I'd be babysitting you two today."

Sakura grinned. "You could get in on the fun for once Ino. Because if you were drinking, you'd feel less like a babysitter."

"I just don't find getting obliterated drunk all the time fun," Ino said, flipping the page of her magazine, and smirking when she heard a simultaneous "ow" from Sakura and Tenten. "Halloween is tomorrow. I will happily participate in the fun tomorrow, and that'll be enough for me."

"I know everyone's excited about Halloween and all, but I'm kind of more excited for next week." Tenten said, rubbing in-between her eyebrows.

"What's next week?" Hinata and Ino chorused.

"It's her and Neji's one year anniversary," Sakura said, noticing that had Tenten looking at her. "What? I've known you were dating practically the whole time that you were dating."

Tenten smirked. "Technically you said that you thought we started dating in like February or January of this year."

Sakura waved a hand. "That's what I let you and Neji believe. I knew it was longer than what you two would admit to me. Plus Neji reminded me that it would be your anniversary yesterday."

That brought a smile to Tenten's face. "I'm surprised he remembers. Don't guys usually not care about that stuff?"

"Not all guys," Sakura pointed out, flinching in pain as another was strip was pulled off her face. "Besides, Neji definitely remembers, and he also told me where he's taking you on your weekend getaway. But I'm not supposed to tell you."

"When has that ever stopped you?" Tenten countered with a laugh. "That time period where we were trying to keep our relationship private, you told people."

"Only a few people- ow!" Sakura exclaimed, as that one brought tears to her eyes. "Okay, we're going drinking as soon as we get done Tenten. Ino and Hinata can come pick us up from the bar when they are done."

Ino glanced over to Hinata. "I'm always the babysitter."

"Well, this time you'll have company." Hinata joked back, as that made all the girls laugh.

 **Later that evening**

"So what are we doing tomorrow?" Shikamaru asked, as he and Sakura settled down on the couch at her apartment.

"I know we planned to just go to that Halloween party tomorrow night, but I think I want to go spend some time with my godchildren for a few hours," Sakura replied, taking a sip from her wine glass. "I want to go watch them trick or treat for a little while. Well, I'll be watching Sachi, and Misaki will probably just be holding Hiro in his cute little costume."

Shikamaru smirked. "Is this her first-year trick or treating or something?"

"Well, it's her first year when she's actually old enough to really enjoy it," Sakura explained, noticing that didn't lessen the smirk on Shikamaru's face. "Don't worry. We are still going to go to the party afterward."

"I'm not worried about that. It's just I thought you'd be more excited about the party for the adults that we are going to tomorrow night. You've been planning for that all month-"

"I am excited for that," Sakura interrupted quickly. "It's just I don't want to miss out on Sachi trick or treating, and Hiro in his cute little lion costume that Misaki has been telling me about. I am basically living through Misaki's children since I don't have kids of my own. Of course, now that I think about it, I could just dress up my furbabies."

"Don't put them through that torture," Shikamaru said, chuckling along with Sakura. When they fell into silence for a moment, he reached over and rested a hand on one of her hands. "Do you want kids?"

Nearly choking on her wine, Sakura coughed a few times, and her wide eyes went to Shikamaru. "Absolutely not."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her reaction, Shikamaru smirked. "Not right now, obviously. I meant in the future."

"Maybe… I guess in the very, very distant future I could see myself having kids." Sakura said, humming thoughtfully.

"Well, I can see you being a mom. You have all the practice with your godchildren and then, of course, your teammates-"

Sakura's laughter interrupted Shikamaru. "You got that right. My teammates are basically like children that I didn't sign up for… What about you?"

"Me?" Shikamaru countered, an eyebrow raised. Pondering for a moment, he finally shrugged. "I guess I've always had a mindset that it would happen eventually in my life. I wasn't really ever focused on it. I pictured myself eventually getting married and having two kids. A boy and a girl. Then I would eventually retire and die at an old age."

"Wow, that's an exciting life plan," Sakura said, grinning as he chuckled. "The way I look at it is that I don't know what the future holds. I can have a plan, then life could happen, and I end up doing something completely different. When it comes to kids there's no real plan."

"That's true," Shikamaru agreed, holding her eyes for a long moment, then he settled back on the couch again. "So tomorrow they have the usual Halloween festival, and I was thinking maybe we could stop by a few booths. It'll be convenient while Sachi is trick or treating."

"That would be fun. They always have so many sweets during this festival. You know that it is basically my kind of place," Sakura said, setting her wine glass on the coffee table, before she moved over to snuggle up next to Shikamaru. "I'm already looking forward to it."

"Me too," Shikamaru agreed, raising an eyebrow at how Shadow took the opportunity to jump up and lay down on the free space on the couch. Tank was already up there, and Baby was perched on the back of the couch like usual. "It's like your animals don't understand that there is a whole other couch available for them to lay on."

"It's not the same, because they want to be where we are," Sakura explained, enjoying Shikamaru's arms wrapping around her. "I know I am very happy here."

Shikamaru smiled at that, then he kissed her. "Same here."

 **The next day, October 31st, Halloween**

"I'm so excited for this," Midori, Sakura's mother, said, as she was taking pictures of Sachi. "She's finally old enough to really enjoy trick or treating."

"I know," Misaki agreed from where she was resting in the recliner chair with Hiro on her chest. "She's really excited about her costume this year too."

"I am!" Sachi exclaimed happily.

"Whoa," Hinata said, having to pause in the face paint she was trying to put on Sachi. "Hold still Sachi. I am almost done."

"And I am almost done with the fairy dust." Sakura added from where she had finished up the braids in Sachi's hair, and was putting some glitter on her hair. She was going as a fairy princess, and a lot of glitter was required.

"I appreciate you two for helping," Misaki said, her hand rubbing her son's back. "Hiro's just been so attached to me the past couple days, and he's been fussy."

"It's no trouble," Hinata said, as Sakura said, "Don't worry about it."

Misaki's focus went to Midori and Akio, Sakura's father. "I also want to thank you two for being here this weekend."

"Oh no thanks necessary," Midori quickly replied, as she waved a hand. "I have been missing my grandchildren, and I am looking forward to seeing them in their costumes."

"Speaking of costume," Daitaro said, as he motioned to Hiro. "I need to go find his backup costume just in case."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll get the first one messy," Misaki said, her eyes going to the dogs that were running about the house. "It's certainly different to have so many dogs here though."

"At least they are behaving," Sakura said, as her own dogs were mixing in with her parents dogs. "Mostly."

"They were all trained by the best." Her dad complimented her with a wink, as he had picked up another one of the dogs toys to toss it across the room to get their attention.

A knock on the door was heard, and Midori walked over to open it. She smiled at the sight of Shikamaru and Naruto. "Hello."

"Hi," Naruto greeted as he and Shikamaru were both hugged by Sakura's mother. "I didn't know you guys were going to be here this weekend."

"Well, it was a last minute trip, but we'll be here for the next few days." Midori explained, as she stepped aside for the guys to walk inside.

Naruto knelt down beside where Hinata was. "How did I know you'd be here?"

Hinata paused from putting the face paint on Sachi to give Naruto a kiss on the cheek, before she went back to painting. "I know we were going to go eat, but I kind of want to go walk around with Sachi while she's trick or treating."

"I'm okay with that," Naruto said, his eyes moving to Sachi. "Only if Sachi shares her candy that is."

"Okay." Sachi agreed with a giggle, as she and Naruto fist bumped.

Shikamaru was focused on Sakura. "You're covered in glitter."

"It's actually fairy dust." Sakura corrected with a grin.

"Alright Sachi," Hinata said, as she finished the last little spots on Sachi's face paint. "Let's go get you into your costume."

"Oh, let me go get her fairy wings out of the guest bedroom, as I haven't got a chance to bring them to her room yet." Midori added, as she got up to go with Hinata and her granddaughter.

Misaki got out of the recliner chair with Hiro to go with Hinata and Midori. Nudging Sachi along, and trying to keep her from touching her face paint.

Shikamaru's eyes followed the dogs who were running around the room. "They are all covered in glitter. Good thing the cats aren't here."

"Baby is," Sakura said, motioning to the hall that led off to the study. "She's hiding in there."

"We didn't bring our cats, because they don't do traveling that well," Akio explained, as he reached down to give Tank a pat on the head when he retrieved the toy that he had been throwing out for the dogs. "The only time we bring them with us is if we are going to be here for longer than a week. One of our friends in the village that we live near comes by to check on the cats every day while we are gone."

"That's probably a good thing, as it's two less animals to cause chaos in this house." Shikamaru said, smirking at how all five dogs were off running again after the toy.

"This house has enough chaos in it without the animals," Daitaro said with a chuckle. "Two kids is like having two little tornadoes. Hiro's been more mobile lately, and it's been a lot."

Akio chuckled. "I remember that all too well."

"I was a great child," Sakura pointed out, as she motioned to herself. "Like you were lucky to have me."

While that brought laughter from Shikamaru and Daitaro, Akio just smiled at his daughter. "You certainly had your fair share of mischief, but you were a great child."

That made Sakura's smile growing, however, her attention went back to the stairs where Sachi came running down in her fair costume. "Sachi you look so adorable!"

 **A couple of hours later**

"Oh my gosh, this is amazing!" Sakura exclaimed before biting into a caramel covered apple.

"You and your sweets." Shikamaru said, reaching over to move her hair away from the sticky treat.

"Thank you." Sakura mumbled through chewing the apple in her mouth, as they walked around a few people to continue down the street. They had taken a break from watching Sachi trick or treat, and were checking out some of the stalls at the small Halloween festival being held on the main street of the village.

Once they had a space to stop at, Shikamaru chuckled at how Sakura was already almost finished with the caramel apple. "You are going to need to eat something else besides candy apples and candy to survive the Halloween party tonight."

"This is a great start though."

"How about we go find out where the others are and see if they want to take a break from trick or treating and go get dinner somewhere?"

"They are probably almost done anyways."

"What makes you say that?"

Sakura motioned up to the sky after she threw the candy apple stick in a trashcan. "The sun is almost down. Misaki wanted to finish up by then, because she's nervous about having Sachi and Hiro out when it gets dark. That's when the older kids come out in the scarier costumes and all that."

"Ah," Shikamaru said, smirking at Sakura. "You've got caramel on your face"

"I can't help that I am the way that I am," Sakura replied, smiling as that made him laugh. She grabbed a napkin from a nearby stall, and worked on getting the caramel off. She just barely managed to do so when her eyes landed on a cotton candy stall that had glowing sticks. "Oh my gosh, I need that right now!"

Grabbing her hand to stop her from crossing the street over to the cotton candy stall, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I meant real food Sakura. Not more sugar."

Sakura dramatically motioned to the stand. "It's glowing cotton candy, Shikamaru."

Unable to help the smile from coming to his face, Shikamaru sighed and walked with her across the street to the cotton candy stall. "One-"

At Shikamaru's pause and his eyes on her, Sakura hummed as she looked at the options. "The blue one."

Shikamaru handed over money for the cotton candy, and accepted the blue cotton candy from the person working the stall. "Alright Sakura, this is the last treat before dinner. You can have as much as you want after that."

"Okay, I agree," Sakura said, accepting the cotton candy from Shikamaru. However, she pulled the first piece off and held it out to him. "But you have to help me eat this."

Staring at the piece of cotton candy for a moment, Shikamaru finally accepted it with a shake of his head. "You know I never had a sweet tooth before I met you."

"You're welcome." Sakura shot back, smiling big as that made Shikamaru chuckle. She took a piece of cotton candy for herself and sighed. _This has been a pretty fun Halloween. I can't wait for the party later._

 **A few hours later**

"Hell yeah!" Sakura exclaimed happily high-fiving Shikamaru, as they won their second game of beer pong against Sai and Ino. "Where have you been all my life?"

Shikamaru chuckled at how excited Sakura was. "This is not really something I've done before. I didn't know I'd be good at it."

"I want a do-over!" Ino exclaimed from the other side of the table.

"Maybe you should get something to eat first." Sai suggested, catching Ino's elbow to keep her steady, as she was clearly tipsy.

"After I eat some food." Ino said, pointing in Sakura and Shikamaru's direction, before she and Sai walked in the direction of where the food was.

Sakura chuckled, as she turned to Shikamaru. "This has been a lot of fun so far."

Shikamaru smirked. "I'm honestly just surprised that you haven't drank yourself into unconsciousness yet."

"I mean we haven't had too much opportunity to drink that much yet, because we are clearly crushing it at beer pong," Sakura said, grinning as she clapped her hands together. "Speaking of drinking myself into unconsciousness; let's go get a drink."

They walked over to where the drinks were, and Shikamaru grabbed Sakura's favorite as well as a beer for himself.

"Wow," Sakura said, watching Shikamaru take a sip of his beer. "I hardly ever see you drink. I thought my birthday was a special occasion. That and the one night with the margaritas."

Shikamaru chuckled and shrugged. "I mean I don't make a habit of drinking like you do, but every once in a while it's okay to have a little bit of fun."

"I one hundred percent agree with that," Sakura said, holding out her drink. "Cheers?"

Clinking his glass to hers, Shikamaru leaned over and kissed her. "Cheers."

 **Around two in the morning**

"Sakura shhh," Shikamaru said, smirking as that just seemed to make Sakura laugh more. "I think we're drunk."

"Just a little bit." Sakura said, holding her fingers close together, as they both laugh.

Shikamaru took her hand, as they walked up the stairs to his parents house. He fumbled with the keys in his pocket to unlock the door, and it took a minute but they were finally able to go in. However, he dropped his keys almost immediately. "Oh no."

Giggling at Shikamaru's clear lack of balance as he had leaned over to get his keys, Sakura tried to help him, but it only seemed to make it worse. He fell over and started laughing. "Shhh."

"No you shhh," Shikamaru countered, grinning as he stood back up. "You've been laughing for like ten minutes straight. It's like you want us to get caught."

"I'm super sneaky Shikamaru." Sakura said, trying to be serious, but they both started laughing.

They were so busy laughing they didn't realize Shikamaru's parents walking into the living room to the sight of a mixture of Sakura and Shikamaru laughing and telling each other to be quiet.

Shikaku smirked, as he looked to his watch. "It's two in the morning."

"That it is." Yoshino said, with a chuckle.

Sakura tripped over the end of the "L" shaped couch, and luckily her head hit the rug and not the hardwood floor. "Ow!"

Despite Sakura's exclamation of pain, she immediately started laughing. Shikamaru, laughing along with her, reached out for her hands to pull her back to standing up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, gravity." Sakura replied, still giggling as she steadied herself.

"Okay you two," Yoshino said, bringing a hand to both her son's and Sakura's backs, as she started guiding them down the hall to Shikamaru's room. "You need to go lay down."

"Mom," Shikamaru said, looking over his shoulder. "When did you get here?"

While that had Shikaku laughing, Yoshino just smiled at her son. "Don't worry about it. Let's go," she said, guiding them into Shikamaru's room. "Take off your shoes."

While Sakura and Shikamaru both seemed to struggle to take their shoes off, Shikaku came in with Tylenol and two glasses of water. He left them on the bedside table, and held back on laughing as he and his wife finally left the room. As soon as his wife closed the door, he chuckled. "That was certainly something."

"I know," Yoshino agreed, as they walked down the hall. "I've never once in my life seen Shikamaru come home drunk before."

"They must have had a really fun night." Shikaku added, laughing along with his wife, as they went to their own bedroom.

 **The next morning**

Opening her eyes, Sakura had to blink several times at the bright room. She felt relatively okay until she just barely moved her head, and she felt the first massive pain in her head and she groaned.

"Oh my god," Shikamaru's muffled voice was heard from where he had his face resting against the pillow. "Thankfully you're alive. I was concerned for a while, but everytime I moved to check my head started to hurt worse."

"Thanks for the effort," Sakura mumbled, bring a hand to her forehead. "I don't even remember coming here last night."

"I remember apart of our walk back from the party. Not really much of us actually coming into my house," Shikamaru said, finally moving his head to focus on the glasses of water and Tylenol on the bedside table. "I think we may have woke my parents up."

That got Sakura's attention, as she was quick to reach over Shikamaru for some Tylenol. "Your parents are absolutely amazing by the way."

Taking some Tylenol himself, Shikamaru laid back down, and wrapped an arm around Sakura. "I'm not sure if I'm going to make it."

"At least we'll die together." Sakura joked, smiling as that got a chuckle from Shikamaru. She snuggled up closer to him, and sighed heavily.

 **Half an hour later**

Walking out into the living room, Sakura immediately brought a hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight coming in from the windows. "Oh my god. It's too bright."

Shikamaru smirked until he noticed his parents were in the kitchen looking at them, and he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "So I guess Sakura and I woke you up last night."

"It's okay," Yoshino said, her eyes going to Sakura. "How are you feeling? You fell over the couch last night."

"You fell over the couch?" Shikamaru asked her.

Sakura shrugged. "I already told you that I don't even remember coming here last night."

That produced a laugh from the others, and Shikaku handed both Sakura and Shikamaru coffees. "You two had a lot of fun it seemed like."

"It was fun." Sakura said, reaching up to her eye to get mascara and eyeliner all over it.

Noticing Sakura fidgeting with her makeup, Yoshino offered her a smile. "Would you like to use some makeup remover wipes?"

"That would be great," Sakura agreed, waiting for Yoshino to go and get the wipes for her. When she came back, she took a sip of coffee and accepted the wipes from Yoshino. "Yeah, I had on fake eyelashes last night and I have no idea where they are."

"You stuck them on the side of my bedside table," Shikamaru said, having to hold his head up with his hand, as he looked to her. "That's what you always do when you've been drinking."

"That's drunk me looking out for myself and my fake eyelashes," Sakura said, smiling as that made the Nara's laugh. She started in the direction of the hall Shikamaru's bedroom was off of. "I'll be right back."

A few minutes after Sakura left, Shikamaru found his parents studying him with raised eyebrows. "What?"

"Nothing," Yoshino replied at first, however, she quickly focused back on him. "It's just strange."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow this time. "What's strange?"

"It's just a bit out of character for you to go to a party Shikamaru. Let alone go out and drink." Shikaku explained before his wife could.

"While drinking and going to parties is not really my thing, it's okay every once in a while," Shikamaru said, noticing his parents raised eyebrows. "Sakura has taught me the value in trying new things and how it's okay to have fun every once in a while over the past few months… However, I don't think I'll drink that much again for a good while."

"Aw, that's disappointing to hear. I guess I'll just go have to bother Hinata and my very good drinking buddy Neji more often," Sakura said, as she had come back out after taking her makeup off. She handed the pack of makeup wipes back to Yoshino. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Yoshino replied with her usual cheerful smile.

Sakura joined Shikamaru in sitting at the bar, and she smiled at his rubbing of his temples. "I know we're both really feeling these hangovers, but you're going to have to toughen up Shikamaru. We have training in an hour."

Shikamaru's eyes widen, as they met hers. "You're joking right?"

Breaking out into a smile, Sakura leaned over and kissed Shikamaru's cheek. "I'm just kidding, but the look on your face was worth it… Anyways, I have to go pick up my furbabies from Misaki's house. I was supposed to go and sleep there last night, but that obviously didn't happen."

"You should have told me that was the plan," Shikamaru said, propping his head up with his hand. "I could have at least tried to get you there instead of to my house."

Sakura laughed, but regretted it when it reminded her of her headache. "Yeah well, I don't even remember how we got here last night, so I don't think that would have helped either of us."

It was Shikamaru's turn to laugh, before he took a sip of his coffee. "At least we made it to a house right?"

"Yeah," Sakura said with a smile, reaching over to rest her hand on his. "Thanks for going to the party with me."

Waiting until after his parents walked into the sunroom to go out to the backyard, Shikamaru shrugged. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"Nice." Sakura shot back, rolling her eyes at his smirking.

Leaning over to kiss her cheek this time, Shikamaru got her to look at him. "I had a great time."

"Me too," Sakura agreed, leaning her head over to rest on his shoulder. "However, this is not a great morning."

Wrapping his arm around her, Shikamaru chuckled. "No, it is not… How about you wait another hour to go get your pets? We can get our coffee and go lay in bed until we feel better."

"That sounds nice," Sakura agreed, however, she didn't move her head from his shoulder. "We might need more than an hour though."

Shikamaru nudged her to get her started on standing up, and kissed her. "I think we can manage that."

* * *

 **A/N: I enjoyed writing the scene of Sakura and Shikamaru coming home drunk the most. I laughed a lot with all the ideas I had for it. What was your favorite scene?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

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	14. Insecurity

_Review:_

 _Wrapping his arm around her, Shikamaru chuckled. "No it is not… How about you wait another hour to go get your pets? We can get our coffee and go lay in bed until we feel better."_

" _That sounds nice," Sakura agreed, however, she didn't move her head from his shoulder. "We might need more than an hour though."_

 _Shikamaru nudged her to get her started on standing up, and kissed her. "I think we can manage that."_

* * *

 **A week later, November 8th**

Glaring as Naruto and Sai were cheerfully readying to start sparring each other, Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and huffed irritably. She could see her breath with how cool the air was that morning.

"Sakura, you don't look too happy to be here." Yamato concluded, from where he and Kakashi were about to watch the other two members of the team spar.

"What's there to be happy about?" Sakura countered, pushing her hands further under her arms to try to warm them up. "It's freezing out here, and it's been misting the entire time we've been here. I'm soaking wet and about to freeze to death. This isn't anything to be happy about."

Kakashi and Yamato shared a look, before the one-eyed sensei met Sakura's eyes. "You guys were the ones who wanted to train-"

"I didn't want to do this," Sakura interrupted, before she pointed to Naruto and Sai. "They wanted to. Why am I being punished because my teammates are morons who don't understand that this is not training weather?"

Naruto and Sai shouting at each other while they sparred was heard, and Kakashi had to focus back on them.

Yamato offered Sakura a smile. "We'll just be out here another hour or so."

Grumbling under her breath, Sakura went back to trying to warm up her hands. _I'm going to die out here._

 **An hour and a half later**

"Are you all just a bunch of morons?" Sakura asked to the very nervous and scared looking interns. Her eyes widening as she continued flipping through the charts and paperwork in front of her. "You have been in the intern program for a month, and you shouldn't have managed to screw up this much."

"We didn't mean to-"

"Well, I would hope you didn't mean to," Sakura interrupted one of the interns who had spoke up. "An entire floor of patient files completely mixed up and incorrect. Do you not understand how dangerous it is to have incorrect information on patients?"

"Alright," a nurse broke in, motioning for the interns to walk away. "Go back to work, and don't make anymore mistakes."

Sakura glared at the interns as they scurried away, before she brought her forehead to her hand.

The nurse offered her a smile. "You seem stressed."

"You have no idea, Kazuna," Sakura said, groaning as she leaned against nurses station. "Training this morning was miserable. It was freezing already, but then it started misting. So I was wet and cold, and about to die."

"Is that why you came in and stayed in the shower for nearly half an hour?" Kazuna countered, settling behind the desk that Sakura was leaning on.

"Yeah, I was trying to get back to a warm state, because it was like I was frozen to the bone," Sakura said, a scowl returning back to her face. "Then I have to come to the hospital and find out that the new interns are morons."

Kazuna chuckled, and propped her chin on her hand. "You could be a little easy on them. They are still in their first month being here."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "I would if it was something that wasn't so life and death. Being a doctor or a nurse is a serious job. If the paperwork or charts are off by just one number, it can get someone killed. If we hadn't caught the mistakes, someone could have died."

"Fair enough," Kazuna agreed and she shrugged. "However, I'm just reminding you that they are very new interns, and are bound to screw up once in a while. At least no one died this time."

Unable to help her laughter, Sakura brought a hand to cover her face. "That's not funny, but it is," she said, trying to control her laughter. Once she managed that, she sighed at all the paperwork in front of her. "I guess I need to go take care of this. Wish me luck to not have the second half of my day be ruined by all of this."

"Good luck." Kazuna replied cheerfully, chuckling at Sakura's groan.

 **A few hours later**

"Shikamaru, where is Sakura?" Shikamaru's aunt, Sumiko, asked. They were in the living room at Shikamaru's family's house.

"She was on a mission for almost a week, then she had training this morning." Shikamaru replied from where he was settling down on the other couch across from the "L" shaped couch. His uncle Abari was playing Shogi with his dad right now.

Sumiko raised an eyebrow. "She was training? I thought it was on and off raining all morning."

"And it's pretty cold out." Yoshino added.

Shikamaru shrugged. "That was her plan. At least when I talked to her for a few minutes after she came back from that mission this morning. I think she was going to go to work at the hospital after. She had a long list of things she wanted to do there, so I might never actually see her again."

Right after he said that, there was a knock on the door, and Shikaku got up to open it. "Speaking of Sakura."

"Oh hey." Sakura greeted everyone, offering them a smile. After the greetings were over, she walked over to Shikamaru, and leaned over so she was on eye level with him since he was sitting down.

Shikamaru's eyes met Sakura's emerald ones, and he smirked. "Well, I can already tell that you need something."

Sakura moved close enough to where her nose was just barely touching his. "At exactly what time are you going to be able to pay attention to me?"

That had Shikamaru's family laughing, and Shikamaru had to try hard to stop laughing. "I don't know, because at this point, I'm finding it's a full-time job to pay attention to you. Maybe I should quit my other job at this point."

Sakura shrugged, as she straightened back up. "I don't know. You should probably keep it just in case you get on my nerves, and I break up with you. So that way you will have something to do, besides think about how much you miss me."

While that made his family laugh, Shikamaru settled for smirking. "I'm glad you're already prepared for that. Thanks for giving me a heads up."

"Don't worry," Sakura replied, leaning back over so she could kiss Shikamaru's cheek. "I like you too much, so you're unfortunately stuck with me… But I am requesting your attention sometime soon."

Chuckling at her response, Shikamaru looked down at his watch. "Alright, well we can go grab something to eat, and you can tell me all your life problems over dinner."

"That's all I ask," Sakura said, then she hummed. "Although I need an hour. I need to go stop by Hinata's team's training ground."

"Okay- where are you going?" Shikamaru asked, watching her walking down the hall his room was off of.

He received no response for a minute, then Sakura returned. Having slipped on one of his dark green jackets. "I'm taking this; it's cold outside."

Shikamaru smirked, as he propped his head up with his hand. "You know that's the jacket I wear all the time, right?"

"And?" Sakura countered, zipping it up. "I need it."

"Yes, because all the thirty jackets in your closet suddenly don't work for you anymore?" Shikamaru countered. Rolling his eyes at her putting her hands in the pockets of it. "You're not giving that back are you?"

Sakura moved back over to him, leaned over on eye level with him. "You should wear that navy blue one in the back of your closet. You hardly wear it and it'd look nice on you."

"Why? So you can take that one too?"

"Well then I'll give you this one back."

"No you won't," Shikamaru replied, before finally smirking. "Stay warm. I'll come by your place in an hour, then we'll go get dinner."

"Sounds good." Sakura smiled and kissed him. She said her goodbyes to his family, and left.

Shikamaru watched her walking off the porch, and he smiled at how she turned around just to look back at him.

 **An hour later**

Leaving her apartment building, Sakura smirked at how Shadow and Tank ran past them to get down the stairs first. She looped her arm through Shikamaru's once they were walking down the street. "This has been the longest day."

"What actually happened after we spoke this morning? Did you end up going to train?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, I didn't want to," Sakura said, sighing irritably at the thought. "I assumed that we'd get a few days off from training, but apparently Naruto and Sai pestered Kakashi and Yamato enough that they decided to start training this morning."

"You were on that mission for nearly a week. Wouldn't even Naruto want to take a break?"

Sakura laughed at Shikamaru's question. "Apparently not. The word break doesn't even exist in his vocabulary. Anyway, since it's starting to get colder out, we'll have less and less training sessions. I guess that is what they used to convince Kakashi and Yamato to do the training session this morning."

Shikamaru chuckled. "That is the exact opposite of my team. I'm pretty sure we were all ready to go into the Winter schedule last month."

"It's not even technically going to be Winter until December," Sakura said, smirking at Shikamaru. "How do you guys ever get anything done?"

"I think the real question is: how is my team so amazing even when we don't train that much?"

That had them both laughing, and Sakura settled with a smirk on her face. "Fair enough."

Walking into a diner, the ordered their food, and went outside to sit at a table to wait for their food. Shadow and Tank settled to sitting underneath their table. They'd be there at least for half an hour until their food would be ready to go. Shikamaru's focus returned to Sakura after they settled down. "So back to your day."

"After training—which was miserable—it was not only cold out, but it was misting the entire time. I ended up freezing, because it was so wet outside and the wind was blowing," Sakura said, pulling Shikamaru's borrowed jacket closer around her. "So, if I end up waking up tomorrow morning deathly ill, it will be my teammates fault, and I want that written on my tombstone."

Shikamaru laughed. "I'll be sure to make sure that happens."

"Anyway, I went to the hospital to get some work done. Well, I took about a half hour long shower to warm up after training first. Then I got to work, and I feel like today, for some reason, everyone forgot how to do their job. I had to supplement in order to keep people from dying, because practically my latest group of interns screwed up big time. It's frustrating, because yes I like to help people, but I can't do everyone's work for them. My staff at the hospital are some of the most highly trained doctors and nurses across the nation, and this new round of interns are idiots and I hate all of them."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at how just talking about that seemed to bring fire to her eyes. "Aren't they supposed to not really know everything? They are interns after all."

Sakura motioned to herself. "I was not like that as an intern."

"I'm talking about normal people."

"Thanks," Sakura said, then they both laughed. She sighed after her laughter stopped. "I was really happy to get out of there, then be able to spend this evening with you. This is definitely making me feel better."

"Same here," Shikamaru said, watching as she had snuggled into his jacket that she took earlier. "Comfortable."

"Yes, thank you." Sakura said, smiling as that made him chuckle.

 **The next afternoon**

"So I'm not going to be available tonight, and most likely tomorrow morning." Sakura said, laying back on Shikamaru's bed, as he was busy putting away laundry.

"What are you going to be doing that is more important than spending time with me?" Shikamaru asked jokingly, smirking as that made her laugh.

"Well, I wouldn't say it is more important exactly," Sakura said, rolling over on her stomach so she could look at Shikamaru better. "I'm just going out with some of the girls tonight. We're going to a party in a small village up North. You know the one-"

"The one by the valley?" Shikamaru interrupted, an eyebrow raised in her direction.

"Yeah… Why are you looking at me like that?"

Shikamaru hummed lowly at first, then he met her eyes again. "I don't think you should go."

"Why not?" Sakura asked immediately.

"It's not really a great area Sakura," Shikamaru said, finishing with his clothes. "I just want you to be safe, and that place doesn't scream safe at all."

"I will be fine. It's not like it's my first party-"

"No offense," Shikamaru interrupted her. "But I have seen how out of control you get, and I don't want you to get in trouble."

Sitting up, Sakura's eyes narrowed in Shikamaru's direction.

 **Out in the living room**

"Isn't it weird that Shikamaru's dating someone?" Ino asked, having stopped by to run an errand for her dad, but she stopped to chat with Yoshino for a little while.

"At first it was strange," Yoshino said, pouring three cups of tea. She picked the third one up and delivered it over to her husband who was over by the couches. She returned back to the bar to sit beside Ino. "However, it was pretty easy to get used to. We've got to know Sakura a lot before they even started dating, and it was pretty normal to have her around the house."

The sound of a door being opened down the hall got their attention, and a moment later Sakura walked out and put on her shoes by the door.

Yoshino raised an eyebrow at her hurrying. "Are you leaving already? You haven't been here that long-"

"Sakura!" Shikamaru's loud exclamation interrupted his mom. He appeared out of the hallway. "You can't just-"

Sakura opening the front door, and shutting it with a slam behind her interrupted Shikamaru. Not saying a single word to him.

Shikamaru stopped at the door and watched as Sakura walked away from the house. He sighed heavily once she was out of sight, and irritated expression on his face.

Shikaku whistled lowly. "Trouble in paradise?"

Yoshino lightly smacked her husband on the arm, as she looked to her son with an eyebrow raise. "What happened?"

Shikamaru sighed heavily, as he sat down on one of the couches. "Sakura wanted to meet her friends at some party tonight, and I didn't think she should go because it's not a good area."

"And you told her this, then-"

"She kept arguing with me that it was fine, and it wasn't her first party, but that wasn't the point I was making," Shikamaru interrupted his mom, with a shrug. "I didn't think she'd be safe there, the party is in a not nice area."

Ino's laughter picked up after Shikamaru stopped talking, resulting in a glare from him. She settled into a smirk once she managed to stop laughing. "I know where you went wrong. Unless you want to figure it out on your own, but Sakura will be long gone to that party."

"Just tell me." Shikamaru said, a deep frown settled on his face.

"Sakura is super independent. She can stand on her own and she knows it and likes it. So naturally, when you tell her she didn't need to go to the party, she probably felt like you were trying to tell her what to do," Ino said, with a shrug. "If you haven't already realized it from Hinata or Tsunade, she gets increasingly irritated when someone tries to tell her what to do. However, the thing you really did wrong was implying that she wouldn't be able to take care of herself at this party."

"So this is an issue of pride?" Shikamaru questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Sakura doesn't like to talk about this but that's one thing that really bothers her. When someone doubts her abilities. Which you weren't intentionally trying to do that, but it probably made her feel that way when you said what you did," Ino said, with a shrug of her shoulders. "Obviously you know about all the issues with the people coming after her, and how practically turns around and treats her like a child if it happens…. But I mean growing up, a lot of people doubted her. People doubting her ability to be a ninja. Then later people doubting her ability to become a doctor. Then when her parents moved it was her ability to live on her own and take care of herself. It's just something she's really insecure about."

"I didn't know that." Shikamaru said, a frown settling on his face. Sighing heavily, he rested his forehead on his hand. _This turned out to be a very unexpected turn of events._

 **Sakura's apartment**

"That's so annoying," Sakura said, having spent the last half hour venting to Hinata and Misaki about her conversation with Shikamaru. "Like, who is he to tell me what I can and cannot do."

"Maybe he just didn't realize how he was coming across-"

"Really Hinata?" Sakura interrupted, looking at Hinata through the mirror she was sitting in front of, as she was curling her hair.

Hinata sighed over-dramatically, and Misaki just smiled. "We're on your side Sakura, but sometimes you overreact."

At how displeased that clearly made Sakura, Hinata focused on brushing her own hair. "Okay, so maybe you're not overreacting."

"Thank you-" Sakura broke off when she heard a knock on her front door that caused both her dogs to start barking. "Will one of you get that? It might be Tenten."

"I'll get it," Misaki said, leaving the room for a moment with Shadow and Tank running after her to go see who was at the door as well. A moment later, Misaki returned to hearing Sakura and Hinata mid-laugh. "Uh, Sakura."

Glancing over her shoulder at the door, Sakura found Shikamaru there with Misaki. Her smile dropped right off her face, and she turned back to face the mirror.

At Sakura's lack of words, Hinata got off Sakura's bed. "I'm going to go grab a snack from the kitchen."

"Me too." Misaki said, as she and Hinata left the room.

When it was just him and Sakura, Shikamaru moved over to sit on Sakura's bed near where she was on the floor. He watched her in silence for a long moment, and he noticed how she refused to look at him. "I talked to Ino after you left."

Sakura scoffed. "Oh, that's great. Let me guess; I'm being a bitch."

"Sakura," Shikamaru said, shaking his head. "I didn't think that I came across the way that I meant to in our conversation. I wasn't trying to tell you what to do. I didn't mean to make you feel like I didn't believe that you could take care of yourself. I know very well that you can handle your own."

That seemed to noticeably soften Sakura's expression, and she finally looked at him through the mirror.

"You've told me about your anxiety, and I've been there for some of your anxiety attacks. That doesn't make me think any different about you," Shikamaru continued, sliding down so he could sit on the floor next to her. "Nor do I think any different if you felt insecure after what I told you today… I didn't realize it would make you feel that way, but I didn't know there was a problem with how I was phrasing my words. You never told me. Even so, I apologize for what I said, and it was not my intention for you to feel as if I didn't believe you could take care of yourself."

Finishing the last curl on her head, Sakura turned off the curling wand and set it to the side to cool down. She was quiet for a moment, before she finally turned to face him. Resting her arms on her knees, she sighed. "No I'm sorry, I guess I really was being a bitch today."

"Sakura-"

"No," Sakura interrupted him, then she sighed. "I never told you that about myself. Partially because it's just been something that made me insecure, and that's not usually something I like to share. You had no idea that I would react that way, and I had no reason to get so mad at you."

Shikamaru reached over to rest a hand on her arm. "I just worry about you sometimes. Even when I know that you would lay out anyone who could cross you, I still worry. And I've been to that area before and I didn't feel that comfortable there. I just want you to be safe tonight. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Sakura moved to rest a hand on his. "I don't mean to make you worry. I guess with how much of a danger magnet I am, it just comes with the territory… I'm just going out with the girls tonight. Misaki is coming with us and she won't be drinking that much, and she would lay out anyone who even tried to mess with us. Plus Ino is coming too, so it's clearly not going to be that crazy."

"Okay, that does make me feel a little better actually."

Sakura joined Shikamaru's laughter. "Thank you for caring so much."

"No problem." Shikamaru said, leaning over to kiss her once. When their kiss broke, he smiled. "Be careful tonight, and have fun. But mostly the first part."

Sakura grinned and nodded. "I'll try to come over tomorrow morning if I don't feel so hungover that I might die."

"And if you don't show up by noon, I will come over here with donuts and coffee, and I will try to save you from dying." Shikamaru said, smirking as that made Sakura laugh.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Sakura said, smiling after Shikamaru kissed her and got up to leave her room. Her eyes watched the door, as Baby climbed into her lap for attention. _How did I get so lucky having a guy like him. Even with me being crazy sometimes, he is there for me… He's amazing._

* * *

 **A/N: My favorite scene by far was when Sakura showed up at Shikamaru's with some of his extended family there. What was your favorite moment?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

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	15. Christmas Tree

_Review:_

" _And if you don't show up by noon, I will come over here with donuts and coffee, and I will try to save you from dying." Shikamaru said, smirking as that made Sakura laugh._

" _I'll see you tomorrow." Sakura said, smiling after Shikamaru kissed her and got up to leave her room. Her eyes watched the door, as Baby climbed into her lap for attention. How did I get so lucky having a guy like him. Even with me being crazy sometimes, he is there for me… He's amazing._

* * *

 **A little over two weeks later, November 25th**

"Oh this has been so nice." Sakura said, slipping a little further into the water. Her eyes sweeping around them to admire the hot springs they were staying at. The night sky above her. Her team, and a handful of members from Team Gai and Team Ten were assigned to the mission as well. They had been gone for five days, and had hit a lull in the mission and were enjoying spending the night in a hot spring.

"So Sakura," Tenten said, having joined Sakura in one of the private hot springs, as they were the only two women on the combined team. "I don't know if I've mentioned it or not, but Neji and I have been discussing moving in together."

"Wow really?"

"Yeah, I mean we've been dating for over a year now."

"I feel like you two just started dating."

"We only made it really public over the Summer, and kept it private the first six months or so."

"Well, everyone knew that you two were dating though."

Tenten rolled her eyes and smirked. "No, you just think that, because for some strange reason, you knew about it. Even though Neji and I didn't tell you."

"Because it was so obvious." Sakura shot back with a short laugh and eye roll.

Laughing, Tenten took a sip of the margarita in her hand. "Right, well back to what I was saying, we've slowly started talking about moving in together. At this point we practically already do. Every night he's either sleeping over at my apartment, or I'm over at his. So what's the point of paying for two separate rent checks when we just could have one place for both of us."

"Well, I think you should go for it," Sakura encouraged, a smirk on her face. "Neji's so much more cheerful around you and he is so obviously in love with you."

Tenten smirked right back at Sakura. "Does he tell you that when you two are at the bar talking and drinking until two in the morning?"

"To be fair, I'm usually doing more of the talking… and the drinking," Sakura said, then she and Tenten laughed. "I can just tell though. It's all over his face whenever you're with him. He definitely loves you so much."

"Well, I can see it all over Shikamaru's face when you two are together," Tenten said, smirking when Sakura nearly choked on her drink. "What? You two aren't the love stage yet? Oh… You're at that stage, but you just haven't said it out loud."

"No, I mean- We've just been dating for four and a half months, and it just hasn't come up," Sakura said, her face growing warmer on top of the effects of how much alcohol she's had and from being in a hot spring. "I guess our relationship is just different than everyone else's. I mean we don't always spend every second of every day with each other. We don't always spend the night together either. I mean we do, but just not every night."

"That's pretty normal though," Tenten said encouragingly. "Neji and I were like that at first, and it just eventually turned into us always spending the night together. That's what led us to even discussing this in the first place."

"I guess I just don't know much about what's normal for relationships," Sakura said with a laugh. Her eyes focused in on her hands. "I think we should probably get out soon, or else we will turn into prunes."

"Yeah, it looks like we're out of margaritas." Tenten said, as they both got out of the hot springs to start drying off.

Five minutes later, they were walking out just in time to come face-to-face with Shikamaru and Neji. Shikamaru being the first to speak. "We were just coming to check on you two to make sure you didn't drown."

"We're fine." Tenten said, laughing when Sakura nearly fell into a bush beside the walkway.

"You two also seem a little bit drunk." Neji determined after watching Shikamaru have to save Sakura from actually falling into the bush again.

"I don't think so." Sakura disagreed, as Tenten nodded in agreement with her.

While that had both Shikamaru and Neji deadpanning at them, Neji reached over for Tenten's hand. "Right well how about we call it a night. That way in the morning you two won't be as hungover when we have to return back to the mission."

"Well, that's not any fun." Sakura replied with an over-dramatic sigh.

"Sakura." Neji mumbled, fighting the urge to roll his eyes, as he and Tenten started down the walkway together.

As Shikamaru and Sakura started walking back to their room, he held her hand. "It might rain soon. We'll probably need to get inside sooner rather than later."

"I'm walking as fast as I can," Sakura replied, her free hand on her forehead. "I had a lot of margaritas."

"I know," Shikamaru said, scooping her up into his arms so he could pick up the pace when he felt some light sprinkle of rain. "Let's get you in bed."

"Now that I can get behind." Sakura said with a drunken grin on her face.

"That's not what I meant." Shikamaru told her, chuckling at her over-dramatic sigh. Once they were in their room, he had her sit on the bed to help her take her shoes off before she could lay down. He tucked the covers around her, before walking over to his side.

"I appreciate the fact that you exist right now." Sakura mumbled happily, as snuggled up to him when he laid down.

"Thanks, I think," Shikamaru replied, chuckling before he kissed her. "Get some sleep."

 **The next morning, November 26th**

"This is a great morning," Shikamaru said, taking a long sip of coffee, and admiring the view. from the windows. "The rain stopped and there are no clouds in the sky."

"And Sakura and Tenten are extremely hungover." Neji added, calmly sipping his coffee, and ignoring the glares he had received from his girlfriend and Sakura.

Shikamaru smirked at the women. "You two did this to yourselves. You both know better than to do that when we're on a mission."

Sakura groaned and mumbled something incoherent under her breath. Meanwhile, Tenten sent a glare their way. "Excuse me. How about some support here?"

"We have supported you." Neji replied, smirking at how that made Tenten sigh over-dramatically.

Shikamaru was rubbing Sakura's back gently. "And let's not forget the fact that if we didn't come and check on you two, I'm sure both of you would be more hungover than you already are."

Naruto and Lee's loud conversation started to take over Sakura's thoughts, and a vein started throbbing in her head. Trying to keep it together, she barely managed a minute, before she abruptly stood up and grabbed them both by their arms.

"Hey Sakura," Lee said, as Naruto said, "What's going on?"

"Go yell at each other outside!" Sakura snapped, proceeding to throw them outside of the room, and she shut the door with a slight slam behind them. She had to take a long deep breath, before she calmly went back to sit down.

"Wow," Neji said, failing to hide the smirk that grew on his face. "That sure was something."

Sakura groaned and let her head rest on the table with a slight thud sound being heard. Shikamaru, meanwhile, rested his hand on her back again. "How's your morning going?"

"Stop talking to me," Sakura replied, making the others laugh. She turned her head so she could look at Shikamaru from where her head rested on the table. "I'm pretty sure I'm dying."

Shikamaru smiled, as he rubbed her back. "You'll be okay."

The sound of Naruto and Lee's voices starting back up again, produced another round of groans, as Sakura turned her face back to resting on the table. "I'm going to kill them."

 **A few hours later**

"Are you kidding me?" Sakura questioned out loud as they walked out of the tea house. They had just stopped by to touch base with the man who was orchestrating the mission they were working on. "We are going to have to be gone a whole extra day than planned now."

"It's not really that bad Sakura." Sai said at her over-dramatic sigh.

"Yeah Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, jogging to catch up to where Lee was. "This is going to be fun!"

Glaring at her teammates' enthusiasm, Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "I want to throw them over a cliff with all their cheerfulness."

"You get used to the enthusiasm. Trust me, with Lee, it's an everyday never-ending enthusiastic conversation with him," Tenten said, chuckling at the escalating loud conversation ahead of them. "You get used to it."

Naruto's loud voice had Sakura cringing inwardly. "No you really don't get used to it," Sakura said, breaking off to yell at Naruto to shut up, before she focused back forward to walking alongside Tenten. "Maybe I should just quit my job and move somewhere where no one can find me."

"Why?" Tenten asked.

Sakura motioned in the direction of where they heard Naruto's loud voice. "To get away from that."

"Fair enough." Tenten agreed, then she moved over to walk alongside Neji.

Almost as soon as Tenten walked away, Shikamaru joined Sakura. "You're not in that great of a mood today."

Sakura shrugged, her arms crossed over her chest. "I know… It happens."

Leaning over to kiss her cheek, Shikamaru slid his hand down to hold her hand. "Okay."

His voice softened her up, and Sakura sighed and tried to smile. "I'm sorry. I'll try to be more cheerful."

At the sound of Naruto and Lee's voices making Sakura cringe, Shikamaru chuckled, and ran his thumb over her hand. "Don't worry. We'll be back in the village in no time."

 **A few days later, November 29th**

"Okay boys, let's go!" Sakura exclaimed, starting in a slight jog down the hiking path, as Shadow and Tank picked up their pace to keep up with her. They had returned back to the village yesterday evening. She came home, took a long bath, and she spent the rest of the night eating Italian take out and spending time with her furbabies.

It was almost eleven, and she wanted to go out and enjoy some nature. After spending what seemed like a never-ending mission listening to Naruto, Sai, and Lee, she was ready to exist in permanent silence for a week. _And all this nature is so helping with that._ She only passed one or two people on the hike so far, and it seemed they had the same mindset of a peaceful silent morning hike. Her eyes followed Shadow and Tank as they were nosing their way down the path. Not letting one thing go by without them sniffing it first.

Once further down the trail, they briefly stopped at a sunny area near the river. The dogs taking the moment to drink some water from the river, and Sakura grabbed a water bottle out of her bag for herself. As she drank some water, she watched over the dogs. They were both clearly happy to be out in nature, and seemed to be unaffected by the cold air. _They're getting their Winter coats, and are like little heaters. I'm going to have to give them a nice brushing soon, before their hair starts building up all over the apartment._

Shadow and Tank barking at a squirrel got her attention, and she sighed and put her water bottle away. "Let's keep on going boys."

 **A couple of hours later**

"Okay boys let's go." Sakura said, motioning for the dogs to leave the pet store. Both of them happy to do so, as they went to sniffing the bag she had in her hand. Having been watching Shadow and Tank, Sakura found herself running into someone. "Oh sorry- Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru smirked, as he had reached up to steady her after she had run into him. "You should watch where you're going. You never know who you'll run into."

"I don't know. I think this time was okay." Sakura said, smiling as she raised slightly up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

When their kiss broke, Shikamaru gave some attention to Shadow and Tank for a moment. "I was just on my way over to see what you were doing today."

"Well, this morning was unproductive, but I finally got out with the dogs to go on a hike," Sakura said, chuckling at how her dogs were overly ecstatic at the attention they were getting from Shikamaru. "By the way, it is freezing outside."

""You don't say?" Shikamaru chuckled, reaching for her hand, as they both started walking.

"It was so cold that I had to stop by the coffee shop, and sit down for half an hour to warm up."

"They let dogs inside?"

"Not normally, but the owner was a patient of mine at the hospital a couple of years back. She knows that Shadow and Tank are well behaved… After the coffee shop, I stopped by the pet store, because I thought after being gone for so long on that mission, the furbabies deserve a little something."

"So," Shikamaru started, as they turned down the street her apartment building was on. "December is coming up in a couple of days."

Sakura smiled at the thought. "I know. I'm so excited! I'm going to start decorating for Christmas as soon as I can."

"My mother always decorates on the first day of December," Shikamaru said, as they moved out of the way of some others walking down the street. "We wake up and have breakfast, then decorate right afterward."

Once at her apartment complex, Sakura and Shikamaru went up to the stairs after the dogs. A few minutes later they were settled in her apartment, and Sakura had given the dogs their new toys. Baby, however, wasn't interested in her new toy at all, and stayed perched on her spot on one of the shelves of Sakura's bookcase. "Well, that was a fail."

Shikamaru chuckled at Baby's lack of interest in the new toy. "She'll come around to it after she's done being in a mood."

"Which might be never," Sakura said, laughing along with Shikamaru, before she settled on the couch next to him. "What have you been up to today?"

"I just woke up an hour ago."

Sakura laughed. "It amazes me that you can sleep for so long."

"To be fair," Shikamaru started, leaning over to whisper in her ear. "We didn't get much sleep the night before."

"No, we did not," Sakura agreed, smiling as they kissed. The dogs barking broke them apart, and she sighed. "We already went hiking you guys. I don't know how you still have so much energy."

Shikamaru smirked, reaching over for Sakura's hand. "Maybe we can make dinner together tonight."

"I would like that very much." Sakura agreed, kissing him once more.

 **A couple of days later, December 1st**

"All of your decorations are so nice," Sakura complimented, having just looked through all the decorations that were around the Nara house. "Shikamaru offered to help me put mine up."

"Really?" Shikaku asked, an eyebrow raised. "He doesn't usually get too excited when it comes to decorating."

Sakura laughed at that. "I figured that after struggling to get him to participate in planning the Nara party earlier this year," she said, her ears picking up on the sound of Shikamaru's door opening from down the hall. "I told him that I am making his favorite dinner tonight if he'd help."

"Food is always a great motivator." Yoshino said with a laugh.

"I can agree with that." Shikaku said, as he was finishing up the lunch that his wife had made.

Shikamaru appeared in the living room, and right away focused on Sakura. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." Sakura said, smiling when he kissed her.

"Where are you two going?" Yoshino asked, her eyes following her son, as he was putting on winter boots and gloves.

"I want to get my Christmas tree today," Sakura said, before she motioned to Shikamaru. "And we're going over to the Christmas tree farm to look around."

Shikamaru chuckled, as he finished getting everything on. "I'm really going to be walking around with Sakura until she picks out the tree she wants, then I get to do all the work to get it cut down."

"Which I appreciate very much." Sakura said, kissing Shikamaru's cheek.

As Shikamaru had opened the front door, Shikaku glanced over from the couch he was on. "You two have fun. Be careful of ice patches."

"Yes, be very careful," Yoshino added, joining her husband on the couch. "And stay warm. And be careful cutting the tree down-"

"We're going to be as careful as humanly possible mom," Shikamaru interrupted, offering his mother a smile. "You don't have to worry, even though I know you are going to anyways."

"Goodbye!" Sakura called out before Shikamaru finally closed the door in the midst of chuckling at his mom's irritated look. She looped her arm through his, as they started down the front steps. "Let's do this."

 **Out at the Christmas Tree Farm**

"Do you get a tree every year?"

"Of course." Sakura replied right away, an eyebrow raised at Shikamaru's question.

Shikamaru could tell she was confused by him asking that. "I would just think that since you live in an apartment it seems a lot to do every year. Wouldn't a fake tree be easier to deal with?"

Sakura laughed. "The only time I would ever get a fake tree is if the Christmas tree farm ran out of trees."

"I'm sure you'd go and find a tree somewhere even then."

"Absolutely," Sakura said, noticing that Shikamaru shrugged. "What?"

Shikamaru offered her a smile as he motioned to the trees around them. "It just seems like it would make more sense to get a fake tree. At least when you live an apartment building that's three floors up it makes more sense. You would avoid all the clean up too."

Sakura propped a hand on her hip. "So, hypothetically, if we decided to eventually move in together in an apartment, would you insist that we get a fake tree?"

"If we did live together in an apartment, then we would be getting a real tree because it's what you want," Shikamaru replied without hesitation, smirking as that made her smile. "Personally I think it'd be more practical to have a fake tree, but obviously this is something really important to you and makes you happy."

"That's very sweet of you," Sakura said, kissing his cheek quickly before they turned down another row of trees. "Hypothetically, if in the future, we were to live together in an apartment and you let me get a real tree every year, I would make sure to do something extra special for you every year after we get the tree. Like make you whatever dinner you wanted, and we could spend the rest of the evening together."

"So, hypothetically, if we moved in together it would become a tradition every year?" Shikamaru asked, smiling as he enjoyed imagining the hypothetical situation.

"Yes, I love traditions," Sakura said, just as happy as Shikamaru seemed. "We would go get the tree and take it home to decorate it and our apartment. Then I can cook you your favorite dinner, and we'll snuggle up and watch movies."

Shikamaru pulled her a little closer to kiss her. "I could see myself content with that arrangement."

"Me too," Sakura agreed, her eyes holding his for a moment, before looking forward just in time to see the best looking tree around. "That is the one! Right there!"

 **At Sakura's apartment a half hour later**

"Okay this is ridiculously too complicated." Shikamaru said, having been laying on her apartment floor, and trying to get the tree to hold in the tree stand.

"I know, but I'm too lazy to go buy a new tree stand." Sakura said, having been standing near him to keep the tree upright.

That had Shikamaru laughing from where he was on the floor. "Hey, that's my line."

Sakura laughed right with him, but it was cut short by Shadow and Tank getting much closer to her. Nosing at her pants. "Boys you need to hold on for a minute. I know you want some attention."

"Okay, I got it," Shikamaru said, finishing tightening the stand, then he sat up. He swiped pine needles off of his shirt. "I'm covered in pine needles."

Sakura, having given some attention to the dogs, motioned from the tree to the front door. "So is my apartment. I'll go get the vacuum."

Once up, Shikamaru walked over to the couch and opened one of the containers they pulled from the small room across the hall from Sakura's bedroom. It was full of lights and ornaments for the tree. "Wow. You've got two full boxes of Christmas decorations."

Plugging up the vacuum, Sakura grabbed Baby to put her up on the ouch. "That's nothing. Once I get an actual house to decorate, I will happily be buying tons more decorations for not only the inside but the outside as well."

"I'm not surprised," Shikamaru said, pulling out a few strands of garland from the box. His eyes traveled over to the kitchen. "The soup already smells so good."

"It'll be ready in a few hours." Sakura reminded, noticing how happy that seemed to make Shikamaru.

"Good, because I am starving."

"I know," Sakura said with a laugh, before she started the vacuum up. After a couple of minutes of vacuuming up the carpet, she finished up just in time to see Shikamaru had already started putting the lights on the tree. A smile appeared on her face, as she walked over to join him. When the lights were fully wrapped around the tree, she glanced back over to the kitchen. "I need to go stir the soup."

Shikamaru smiled, as he stopped her. "I can do that."

"Yeah no. I don't trust you not to be taste testing while over there." Sakura replied, chuckling as she noticed that turned Shikamaru's smile to a smirk.

"Okay, how about I make hot chocolate?" Shikamaru offered, following Sakura over to the kitchen area.

"I can agree to that," Sakura said, opening the lid to the crockpot. She was making a really thick and creamy potato soup that was a favorite of theirs. "The potatoes aren't softening up yet."

"It smells even better this close up," Shikamaru said, grabbing the hot chocolate mix from the cabinet. "I don't know how I can make it another few hours."

"I believe in you." Sakura replied, laughing as Shikamaru sighed dramatically, before proceeding to hype up Shadow and Tank who were by their feet.

 **Later that evening**

Empty hot chocolate mugs and empty soup bowls were on the coffee table, Sakura was leaning back against the pillows on the couch after adding her soup bowl to the table. "I'm so full."

"I know." Shikamaru agreed, slipping an arm around her shoulders.

Sakura's eyes flickered around the living room that was now fully decorated and the tree, and it made her smile widen. _It's so nice in here._

"Thank you for making the soup."

"You're welcome, and thank you for helping me do all this today," Sakura said, motioning to her decorated apartment. "I know I can be a bit extra, but I just love this time of year. Decorating is always something that makes me happy."

"You don't have to thank me for that," Shikamaru said, his eyes also taking in the decorated apartment. "It turned out to be a really fun day that we got to spend together."

Sakura's eyes finally caught Shikamaru's, and her heart fluttered with how happy she was. "I love you, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly, but he was quick to smile and kiss her. "I love you too."

* * *

 **A/N: They finally said that they loved each other for the first time, and my entire heart just exploded with all the feels. What was your favorite part of the chapter? I'm sure you all can guess what my favorite part was.**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**


	16. Plans For The Holidays

_Review:_

" _You don't have to thank me for that," Shikamaru said, his eyes also taking in the decorated apartment. "It turned out to be a really fun day that we got to spend together."_

 _Sakura's eyes finally caught Shikamaru's, and her heart fluttered with how happy she was. "I love you, Shikamaru."_

 _Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly, but he was quick to smile and kiss her. "I love you too."_

* * *

 **A couple of weeks later, December 16th**

Blinking a few times as the cool wind caught her eyes, Sakura focused upon the slightly cloudy sky above. _It's actually a pretty moderate day for it being December. Sure, it's still a little cold, but at least it's nice enough for training to not be completely miserable._

"Ow."

Shikamaru's voice caught Sakura's attention, and she focused back down where she was healing his arm. "I'm sorry."

"It's not you," Shikamaru said, his eyes meeting hers. "I just moved my arm the wrong way."

They were having a group training session with her team, Shikamaru's team, Team Gai, and Team Eight. After Shikamaru received an injury, she used that as an opportunity to take a break from sparring herself to heal him. "It feels pretty nice outside. I think the weather is pretty unusual for this time of year."

Shikamaru smirked. "Have we got that boring that the only thing we can talk about is the weather?"

"No," Sakura said with a laugh. "And if that ever happens, you have my permission to divorce me, because I will have failed as a comedian."

"We're not even married," Shikamaru said, a smirk on his face at her laugh. "So does that mean I have to wait until we get married to divorce you, and until then I have to suffer through boring weather conversations?"

"Exactly," Sakura said, grinning back at him. "According to the weather people the temperature is going to drop heavily, and we might see snow in a couple days."

"Are you going to be okay in your apartment?"

"I think so. I have tons of blankets."

"I know. You are a blanket hoarder."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that."

"I would- Shit," Shikamaru hissed, feeling a large amount of pain when Sakura had turned his arm over a little.

"Sorry," Sakura mumbled, continuing on with her healing. A burst of wind going by made a shiver go down her spine. "Speaking of blankets; I can't wait to go home and snuggle up in one."

That brought a smirk back onto Shikamaru's face. "Maybe we could sneak away right now."

"You're not going anywhere Shikamaru," Asuma's voice cut into the conversation from over where he was with the other sensei's. "You've skipped training twice over the last couple weeks."

Shikamaru sighed dramatically, and motioned to the arm Sakura was healing. "I'm injured."

"You'll be fine in a few minutes." Asuma countered, his arms crossed over his chest, and a smirk crossing his face.

"Fine." Shikamaru mumbled.

Sakura smiled and paused in healing to kiss his cheek. "You'll be fine."

A few minutes later they were getting up and preparing to re-join the others in the sparring rotation, but Sakura's attention was grabbed when a few familiar faces entered the training grounds.

"Sakura!"

"Daitaro," Sakura said, a big smile on her face when Sachi ran over to hug her. "Sachi, my love."

"Saki." Sachi said, giggling when their hug broke, and she right away took Sakura's hand.

"Hey, I know this is kind of last minute, but I was going to see if you would mind watching Sachi and Hiro today," Daitaro said, having walked at a much slower pace over to Sakura. "Misaki is on a mission, and I have some work to do for the council. The deadline is tonight, and I have even more work due tomorrow."

"Sure, I don't mind. I'm not doing anything." Sakura replied with a shrug.

"Sakura," Kakashi started, having heard what she said. "We're in the middle of training."

"Come here Hiro," Sakura said, accepting Hiro's diaper bag and her godson, and smiling at how cute his little babbling was. "You are too cute."

"You can't just leave whenever you want to-"

"Oh wow Sachi," Sakura interrupted Kakashi, as she was focused on her goddaughter. "That is one cute scarf."

"Thank you," Sachi replied politely, grandma made it for me."

"Sakura." Yamato said, trying to get his female student to pay attention to them, but it was clear her focus was completely taken by the appearance of her godchildren.

"Say goodbye to everyone." Sakura said to Sachi, as she took Sachi's hand again with her free hand.

"Goodbye!" Sachi called cheerfully.

Sakura grinned as she made eye contact with Shikamaru, and she simply stuck out her tongue in his direction. "See you later."

Shikamaru smirked at her. "Lucky."

 **Later that day**

A knock on the door caught Sakura's attention from where she was snuggled up on the couch. "Come in!"

The door opened, and Hinata entered. "It's freezing outside," she said, closing the door quickly, before petting Shadow and Tank who came to greet her almost immediately. Her eyes went to where she could just barely see Sachi on the couch next to Sakura. "Hello Sachi."

"Hinata!" Sachi exclaimed happily, making an effort to peek over the back of the couch.

"I can't believe how earlier today it was so warm, and now it's below freezing outside," Hinata said, handing over hot chocolates to Sakura and Sachi. "I stopped to get these on my way over."

"Thanks," Sakura said, her eyes moving from Hinata to Sachi. "What do you say to Hinata?"

"Thank you." Sachi said, already happily sipping at the sweet hot chocolate.

"You're welcome," Hinata replied, working on taking her jacket off now. "When are Sachi and Hiro going home?"

Sakura took a sip of her hot chocolate, and set it down on the table beside the couch. "They aren't going home until tomorrow evening. Daitaro has a lot of stuff to do between his assignments for the council, and cleaning the house up. It apparently has turned into a disaster zone after Misaki left."

"Hopefully she'll be back from her mission soon," Hinata said, eyeing the Christmas tree, and the empty tree skirt at the bottom. "We need to go ahead and go shopping for everyone's presents."

"I always try to do that, then somehow I am still doing gift shopping right before the holidays." Sakura said, smirking as Hinata laughed.

"If we at least aim to start early, then we can at least do some of it early and the rest of it last minute like usual," Hinata said, walking around to the front of the couch, where she had a much better view of Sachi. She was snuggled up next to both Shadow and Tank, and in a really fluffy blanket. "Oh my gosh, Sachi you look so comfortable."

"I am." Sachi said, sipping on her hot chocolate.

Sakura, meanwhile, was focused on Hiro. He was content being held in her arms. His head resting lightly on her chest, and seemingly close to sleep. Watching his eyes flutter closed melted her heart, as he was so precious.

"Wow," Hinata said, settling down on the other couch. "You were born to be a mom."

"I was born as an accident actually," Sakura corrected, a grin on her face. "My parents didn't plan for me at all. I was a surprise as they say. My mom wouldn't tell me anything more, but my dad said it had to do with too much tequila."

Hinata laughed at that. "That's so your family though."

"It really is," Sakura said, picking up a remote and motioning to the TV. "Let's watch a movie."

 **The next day**

"Okay let's get the cookies, and we aren't going to tell your parents." Sakura said, smiling as that seemed to make Sachi extra happy from where she was sitting in the grocery cart. She set the cookies in the cart, and her eyes darted to Hiro who was reaching over to the shelf. She was quick to get him re-distracted with his toy in his hands. _That was a close one._

"Hey Shikamaru!" Sachi's loud exclamation seemed to echo down the grocery aisle, and it got a few others to look in their direction.

Sakura smiled and tried not to laugh, but was failing miserably. She reached over to get Sachi to look at her. "Shhh. My love, you need to use your indoor voice. We're not trying to talk to everyone in the grocery store at one time."

"Is that not what we're doing?" Shikamaru's voice hit Sakura's ears, as he approached from further down the aisle where Sachi had first seen him. "Hello Sachi."

"Hello." Sachi greeted back cheerfully.

"What are the chances of us being here at the same time?" Sakura asked, as Shikamaru's focus had gone to her.

"It's happened before," Shikamaru reminded, smirking before he kissed her. "I'm picking up some things for my mom. She wants to bake some desserts, and we apparently don't have any ingredients."

Sakura chuckled. "I wonder if that has to do with you and I baking those cupcakes last week."

"It just might." Shikamaru said, smirking as Sakura laughed again.

Sakura's laughter stopped abruptly, as her eyes went to Sachi, who was standing up in the cart. "Sit down please."

"Sorry." Sachi apologized, as she sat back down in the cart.

Sakura's focus went back to Shikamaru. "Misaki is still on a mission, and Daitaro has just been wrapped up in a project he's been working on for the council. I offered to let the kids spend the night last night so he could have more time to focus."

"What happens when they both get missions at the same time?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes going to Hiro who had dropped his toy, and he leaned over, picked it up, and handed it back to the almost one-year-old baby. "How do they manage that?"

"Well, it's very rare that they both get assigned on missions out of the village at the same time. However, if it happens, they usually just get me or Sora and Amaya to watch them. Or if it's for more than a couple days, they'll bring them over to my parents house," Sakura said, brushing back Hiro's hair on his head. "I would love to stay and chat, but we need to be getting back to my apartment soon. Hiro is due for a nap in the next twenty minutes or so. And Sachi should be ready for a nap not much later."

"Okay, well since the holidays are coming up, I was hoping to talk to you about somethings." Shikamaru said, switched the basket he was carrying to the other hand.

"We can do that," Sakura said, humming in thought. "Maybe you can come over tonight. The kids should be getting picked up around eight o'clock."

"Okay," Shikamaru said just as Hiro started to get a little fussy and was reaching for Sakura. He offered her a smile after she picked Hiro up. "I'll leave you to it."

"Alright, I love you." Sakura said, cradling Hiro close to her chest, as she kissed Shikamaru once.

"I love you too," Shikamaru said, before he gave Sachi a high five. "See you later Sachi."

"Goodbye!" Sachi called, before her focus turned to her upset baby brother. "Maybe he wants some ice cream."

Sakura laughed at that suggestion. "I think someone else wants some ice cream."

 **Later that day**

"Race you there!" Naruto hollered, before he started off down the street with Sachi, who was giggling away.

Meanwhile, Sakura walked more calmly pushing Hiro in his stroller, and Sai walked alongside them. Sakura chuckling at how Naruto more than obviously was letting Sachi get ahead of him. "He's going to be a great father someday."

"Yeah if he can ever get serious with Hinata that is." Sai said, having also found amusement in how easy it was for Naruto to get along with Sachi.

"I don't think he'll have any trouble when it comes time for that," Sakura said, her thoughts going back to her conversation with Naruto about him being so concerned over Hinata's present. "While he still has his moments, I think he's grown up a lot over the past year or two. Maybe not enough to have kids of his own anytime soon, but he's at least good with them. Of course, it may just be that Sachi loves both you and Naruto so much that it makes it easier."

"I don't know about for Naruto, but I could agree to that about me. I'm not that interested in kids. At least not now. Sachi and Hiro are the only two that I know, and I like them. But that's because they are kind of like family at this point," Sai said, then he sent a smirk in Sakura's direction. "Kind of like you. You're like the alcoholic sister I didn't ask for, but I still love you anyway."

That made Sakura throw her head back and laugh. "Thanks Sai. That's probably the nicest thing you ever said about me."

"You're welcome." Sai chuckled.

"What is Ino up to tonight?"

"She is eating dinner with her parents, then going to bed early," Sai replied with a shrug. "She invited me, but I already made plans to go with Naruto to visit you, Sachi, and Hiro."

"How nice of you-" Sakura broke off, as both Sachi and Naruto ran past them hollering at each other and laughing.

Sai sighed at the sight. "I wish I had their energy for it being so late in the day."

"Tell me about it," Sakura said, motioning around them. "Especially with it being this cold out. I just want to curl up in a ball and do nothing."

"Same here." Sai agreed with a laugh.

"Ichiraku!" Sachi exclaimed at the top of her lungs, making Sakura nearly jump out of her skin.

"Heck yeah, let's go!" Naruto exclaimed, motioning back to Sakura and Sai. "Sachi is my new favorite person. Sorry Sakura and Sai, better luck next time."

While Sachi and Naruto laughed on their way into Ichiraku, Sai looked calmly to Sakura. "I guess we're eating Ichiraku for dinner."

"Apparently," Sakura said, pausing to lean over and look at Hiro in his stroller. "We're going to Ichiraku Hiro, so you'll be able to have some noodles for dinner. Does that sound good?"

Sai raised an eyebrow when Sakura started chuckling to herself as she straightened back up. "What?"

"He's asleep." Sakura said, still chuckling as they finally walked into Ichiraku.

 **A couple of hours later**

Pulling back the covers on Sakura's bed, Shikamaru had to pick up and move Baby when she tried to get under the blankets. "So, I wanted to talk about the holidays to see if we could actually spend time together during them."

"Why do you say it like that?" Sakura countered, slipping into bed.

"It's just, I know that most people have all sorts of different plans, and it's likely our families probably overlap on when they celebrate," Shikamaru explained, getting in bed beside her. "If we make our plans now, we can try to work something out."

"Well, the holidays are a big thing for my family. Both sides get together and it is a lot of people."

"While I can say that I don't have as many people in my family as you do, they are a pretty big deal for my family too. So, what does your family usually do?"

"It's usually just me every year, so I would just get my pets and go to my parents house for the last two weeks of the year," Sakura sat up to push Tank off her feet. "Our actually celebrating Christmas day is Christmas Day evening."

"Is that just your immediate family?"

"Yeah the actual dinner brings in my extended family from both sides, but usually the actual holiday and days after are with my immediate family. Then obviously some of my friends who spend the holidays with us too," Sakura said, fluffing up her pillow a little bit. "What do you usually do during the holidays?"

"My mom's side of the family has a party a couple of days before Christmas, and we meet up at my mom's parents house just outside the village. They live just North outside that pumpkin patch we went to in October."

"What do you do for your dad's side?"

"Christmas Eve dinner. We'll eat around five or six, then spend the rest of the evening together. My mom and aunts usually drink wine and do crafts. Then we also watch movies or play games."

"That sounds like fun. Especially the drinking wine and doing crafts part," Sakura said, laughing along with Shikamaru. "I think we can work it out."

"What's your plan?" Shikamaru asked, reaching over to wrap an arm around her.

"I can just stay in the village instead of going to my parents really early this year. We can go to both of your families parties. Then spend a little while Christmas Eve morning with your parents, and finally go to my parents house for Christmas Day dinner," Sakura said, smiling as Shikamaru's hand was running up and down her back. "When we run it's a four hour trip to my parents house, and can be up to six hours if we don't go that fast. We'd be able to spend time with your family a little in the morning, then be at my parents house in the afternoon. But we don't have to if you don't want to-"

"I think that sounds perfect," Shikamaru interrupted her. "I'd like to spend time with your family, as well as my own. I think that plan works out best for the both of us… Plus we can stay at your parents house for a few days or week after Christmas. Maybe we can even have New Years there."

Sakura smiled and kissed Shikamaru. "I like that idea. Eventually, they are going to start building a railroad. There will be a station here and one in Land of Rivers. Oh and then there will be another one built connecting to the Sand Village, but I don't know when they'll start on that. It'll cut traveling time down to just a two-hour ride from the village to there. So it'll be a lot easier for us eventually."

That brought a smile to Shikamaru's face, as he chuckled.

"What?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I just think it's cute," Shikamaru said, chuckling again, as he took her hand. "You're talking about us in the future. I like the sound of that."

Sakura laughed shortly, as she looked down at her hand that he was holding. "I want to have a future with you."

"And I want to have one with you," Shikamaru said, his smile growing as her emerald eyes met his, then he kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sakura said, moving closer to rest her head on his shoulder. _It's not even Christmas yet, and I can tell this is going to be a great one._

* * *

 **A/N: My favorite scene to write was between the first scene with Sakura and Shikamaru, and the scene with Naruto and Sakura talking about what Naruto should get Hinata for Christmas. What was your favorite scene?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**


	17. Our First Christmas

_Review:_

" _I just think it's cute," Shikamaru said, chuckling again, as he took her hand. "You're talking about us in the future. I like the sound of that."_

 _Sakura laughed shortly, as she looked down at her hand that he was holding. "I want to have a future with you."_

" _And I want to have one with you," Shikamaru said, his smile growing as her emerald eyes met his, then he kissed her. "I love you."_

" _I love you too." Sakura said, moving closer to rest her head on his shoulder. It's not even Christmas yet, and I can tell this is going to be a great one._

* * *

 **A few days later, December** **21** **st**

Crossing off a few things off her list, Sakura smiled as she left the book store. She had been out doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, as she was officially on leave for the Holidays. She didn't have to worry about training or being assigned to a mission unless it was an absolute emergency. She was taking care of all the last minute things she needed to get done before all the Christmas festivities start in a few days. She barely made it a few steps down the street before suddenly her bright blonde haired teammate dropped down directly in front of her, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. "Damn it Naruto! You scared me!"

"Oh sorry." Naruto said, chuckling as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

When almost a minute passed and Naruto didn't say anything more, Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Did you need something? Or did you just stop by to scare me?"

"That was just a bonus," Naruto replied honestly, laughing as he dodged Sakura's fist. "So… You know how Hinata and I are dating, right?"

Sakura deadpanned. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious-"

"Everyone on the planet knows Naruto." Sakura interrupted him, rolling her eyes as he just laughed.

"Right, well it is still officially pretty new for us, and I'm not really sure what is appropriate to get her for Christmas." Naruto admitted, giving off a nervous laugh this time.

"Oh," Sakura said, then she smiled at how Naruto was clearly putting a lot of thought into it. "Well, have you two talked about getting presents for each other?"

Naruto shrugged. "Hinata said that we didn't need to make a big deal about it, but I still want to get her something anyway."

"Do you have anything in mind?"

"I'm not really good at that stuff."

"I'm sure you'll find something for her."

"I guess… I'm just not sure what's considered _too_ much."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean… Well… Hmm," Naruto hummed, and he scratched his head to try and think of what exactly he was trying to say. "We're still pretty new in our relationship. I don't want to get something that would be considered weird since we just started dating not too long ago."

"Come with me," Sakura said, motioning for Naruto to follow her into a coffee shop. A few minutes later they were sitting down. Sakura with a coffee, and Naruto with a hot chocolate. "Do you have any ideas on what you want to get Hinata?"

"Not really," Naruto countered, his eyes widening, as he motioned at her. "That's why I'm talking to you. I don't know what in the hell I'm doing."

Sakura chuckled at that. "Regardless of how long you and Hinata have been together, you should get her whatever you want to."

"That's not very helpful, Sakura."

Naruto's words had Sakura's eye twitching. "I'm not just going to tell you what to buy her, Naruto. You have to come up with that yourself. I mean, at this point, you know her well enough that you should know what she would like."

Sighing heavily, Naruto rubbed his forehead. "I just don't know if what I get her is too much or not. Sure we've been dating for a while now, but I don't want to overdo it… Or under do it. That sounds weird. I-"

"Okay," Sakura interrupted, waving off his rambling words. "Don't overthink it. A big present or a small present doesn't matter. Whatever you decide to get her should show that you care about her."

"Ah," Naruto said, his eyes watching her closely. "What did Shikamaru get you?"

"How in the world would I know what he got me Naruto?" Sakura deadpanned.

"Oh uh… I don't know," Naruto said, barely remaining quiet for more than a few seconds, before sighing heavily. "What did you get Shikamaru?"

"Okay, I'm done," Sakura said, lightly slapping her hand to Naruto's shoulder. "Good luck Naruto."

"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed after she had walked right out of the coffee shop without another word. Scrambling to get up, he grabbed his hot chocolate, and ran outside after her.

 **An hour later, Sakura's apartment**

Wrapping up Shikamaru's present, Sakura smiled as she put a bow on it. She set it under her Christmas tree, along with the other presents she already wrapped for her friends and family. Her plan was to put the ones for her family in a summon scroll before traveling to her parents house in a few days.

Shadow and Tank started to nose their way into Sakura's lap now that she was done wrapping presents, and she gave them plenty of attention to make up for being busy the last few minutes. After managing to put the present wrapping materials away, she stood up, and clapped her hands together. "Alright boys, we are going to go over to Shikamaru's for the rest of the evening."

Her words excited Shadow and Tank, and she had to work to collect Baby from where she was under the coffee table. After putting her jacket it on, she put the strap of the cat pouch on, and she put Baby in there. It was like a sling, and it was an easy way to carry her. It would keep her warm too on the trip over to Shikamaru's. Once all the animals were ready, she grabbed her keys, and opened her front door just in time to almost run into Shikamaru. Nearly jumping out of her skin in surprise, Sakura gasped. "Okay, I've had enough people scaring me today."

Shikamaru laughed, as his hands were tucked into the pockets of his jacket. "Are you going somewhere?"

Sakura stepped out of the way to let the dogs out. "I was going over to your house actually."

"Great minds think alike. I can escort you then," Shikamaru said, waiting for her to lock her door, before he reached for her hand. "The temperature finally dropped below freezing, and we need to be careful not to hit any ice patches on the way back. I don't think we can control Shadow and Tank though."

"The dogs will be fine. I, on the other hand, might slip and fall and die," Sakura replied, making them both laugh as they started down the stairs. "I ran into Naruto earlier. Well, he actually jumped in front of me and scared me, but that's not the point. He was asking me for help on picking out a gift for Hinata."

"He didn't have any ideas on what to get her?"

"It was more or less him not sure if he should get her a present at all," Sakura said, switching to looping her arm through his, as they were reaching a few icy patches after leaving her apartment building. "They apparently discussed not making a big deal about gifts, but he still wants to get her something anyway."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that he should get her whatever he wants to. It doesn't matter how small or big of a present he gets her. All that matters is that he cares about her."

Shikamaru grew a smirk on his face. "Were you wrapping my present before I came over?"

Unable to help a smile from appearing on her face, Sakura focused forward. "No comment."

"So you were-"

"Oh my god!" Sakura exclaimed, as she slipped on an ice patch. Just barely able to catch her footing along with Shikamaru grabbing onto her last second. Her eyes caught Shikamaru's and she laughed. "I almost just died."

"Yes you almost did," Shikamaru said, chuckling as he glanced down at Baby, who had poked her head out of the cat pouch. "Baby survived."

"Good that's all that matters." Sakura said, laughing along with Shikamaru, as they started walking again.

 **S** **hikamaru's house, a couple of hours later**

Sakura laughed as she took a bite of the cookie dough she and Yoshino had been making. "This is so much sugar and I am here for it."

"Well, you've had such creative ideas for all these desserts we've been making." Yoshino said, having also taste tested a bit of the cookie dough. They were making desserts ahead of time for the party at her family's house the next day.

Sakura shrugged. "My younger cousins on my mom's side and some of my cousins' children all enjoy it. I've learned how to do all that stuff for their parties and birthdays."

"Making all of the sweets for our holiday parties has always been a favorite of mine." Yoshino added, pinching off another bite of cookie dough.

"Not to point out the obvious," Shikamaru said, getting their attention from where he was playing shogi with his dad. "But I think eating sweets is your favorite thing. Hardly any of it will end up seeing our family tomorrow if you and Sakura eat it all now."

Shikaku chuckled at that, meanwhile, Yoshino shook her head in disagreement. "We will have plenty tomorrow, and Sakura and are just taste testing."

Yoshino nodded, as her eyes focused on her son. "You weren't disagreeing when you got to taste test the cupcakes."

"I don't know what you're talking about, mom." Shikamaru replied, smirking as the others laughed.

"Sakura," Yoshino started, as they were getting back to focusing on the cupcakes. "What happened to your hands?"

Glancing down at the paper cuts that covered her hands, Sakura laughed. "Oh well, I was fighting off three really excited furbabies and trying to wrap presents as quickly as I could before they could destroy the paper."

Baby hissed at Shadow and Tank who got too close to her, and she bolted out of the kitchen. She stopped under the Shogi table. Shikamaru had to motion for the dogs to stay back to keep them from getting close to the shogi table and risk knocking it over. "That could have ended badly."

"Do you have any other holiday plans Sakura?" Yoshino asked.

"Tomorrow is the first on the to-do list, then Christmas Eve with Shikaku's family," Sakura said, pausing to take a sip from her wine glass. "Then Christmas Eve, we'll be spending a few hours here in the Leaf, then going to my parents house for a few days or a week. We haven't really decided on that."

"If it snows while we are over there; I'm not really going to want to travel back to the Leaf." Shikamaru added, his eyes on the shogi game, and trying to keep Baby from clawing at his feet.

Yoshino put the tray of cookies into the oven. "What does your family usually do?"

"It takes a lot to get all of my family," Sakura said, laughing after another sip of wine. "Like a lot. All five thousand of us.."

Shikamaru laughed after he had made another move on the shogi board. "She's being over-dramatic, but she does have a lot of people in her family according to her and all of her siblings."

"Okay, not five thousand. But between both my parents families, there is a lot of family members," Sakura said, humming as she started to count on her fingers. "My dad has one brother and two sisters, and my mom has two sisters and two brothers. I have fifteen cousins combined both sides, and eight of which are either married or are in a relationship. Obviously there is me and four siblings too. There are nine great-grandchildren so far, including Sachi and Hiro. So it is a very full house on Christmas Day, because both sides of the family get together."

"Is that what you do every year? Get together on Christmas Day?" Yoshino asked.

"Well, I usually spend the last two weeks of the year at my parents house, but the extended family comes in just for Christmas Day and sometimes the two or three days afterward," Sakura paused, and her eyes moved to Shikamaru with a smile. "My usual plans have changed this year, but it's all for good."

 **The next evening**

Sakura's eyes ran over the wall of pictures that held generations of Yoshino's side of the family. She had found herself learning a lot about where Yoshino's family came from, and that her actual last name was Kuramoto before she married Shikaku.

"Well Sakura, you seem to be a well-rounded young lady," Rina, Yoshino's mother, told her, as she had been asking Sakura about herself as she was showing her around the house. "You're one of the best doctors in the nation, an active highly ranked ninja, and a member of the council all at the young age of 18. You are very impressive."

Sakura laughed and offered a smile. "My family is all about the whole "go big or go home" mindset. All of my siblings have accomplished a lot too."

"Your brother is the Kazekage correct?" Maemi, Shikamaru's aunt, asked her.

"The Kazekage, really?" Katsu, one of Shikamaru's other aunt on this side of the family, asked before Sakura could answer.

"All of my siblings are older than me, but the youngest out of my three brothers is Gaara," Sakura said, then she laughed. "My siblings' accomplishments are all on that level of impressive. I've got a lot to compete with."

Rina chuckled, as she motioned from Katsu and Maemi to Yoshino across the room. "And I thought it was only my daughters who treated every little thing as a competition."

"That's the fun of siblings. Well, until competitions get physical and it turns into a disaster quickly," Sakura said, shrugging her shoulders and humming. "Of course, I was the youngest and got away with practically everything."

Katsu laughed at that. "Same here. Yoshino and Maemi were not my biggest fans because of it too."

Shikamaru appeared just after the women stopped laughing. His hand gently resting on Sakura's back. "I was wondering where you went. You left me near the dessert table by myself."

"Aw, did you at least try some of the cookies your mom and I made?" Sakura asked, smiling when Shikamaru nodded. "Good… And I'm sorry I left, but your grandmother was showing me her library of books. Obviously, I couldn't say no and miss out on the opportunity to look at someone else's book collection."

"Obviously," Shikamaru joked, smirking as that made Sakura laugh. "I'm not surprised though. This is definitely your kind of place."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura could see the youngest of Shikamaru's cousins. A three-year-old girl, Kimi, coloring in a coloring book. "I'll be right back."

After Sakura left, Shikamaru's grandmother, Rina, smiled at her grandson. "Sakura is a bright young woman. Don't let her go."

"Trust me I know." Shikamaru said, smiling as his eyes traveled over the others in his family. His mom's side of the family had less going on than his dad's side, as his five cousins were all younger than him. Two of which were 16 and 15, then the next were 10, 6, and 3. His eyes finally landed back on Sakura, who was easily interacting with everyone in his family. _She's got a big family on both of her parents sides… I don't think I'd be nearly as good as she is when it comes to interacting with her whole family._

Yoshino joined Shikamaru, as her eyes swept from his aunts to him. "What were my sisters saying about me?"

Shikamaru smirked and put his hands in his pockets. "You better ask Sakura. She was the one who was talking to them."

"Oh she sure knows how to light up a room no matter where she goes." Yoshino said, chuckling at how Sakura seemed to easily get the attention of her family.

Shikamaru smirked, as he had been thinking the same thing. "That she does."

 **A couple of days later, December 24th**

The party with his dad's side of the family was finally winding down, and Shikamaru was almost finished putting the dishes into the dishwasher. His eyes were focused on the part of his family that was still here, more specifically on Sakura.

Sakura had finally got her hands on Shikamaru's cousin's baby, Kazumi. "Oh, she's getting so big."

"I know," Akara, Kazumi's mother, replied. "She'll be eleven months old in a couple of weeks, and I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. My husband has been trying to talk me into having more. I don't think so."

Akara's words caught her husband Shinji's attention. "Come on babe. You always talk about how she's growing up every five seconds-"

"Um excuse me," Akara interrupted, a smirk on her face. "Who's the one who has to gain the weight and carry the child for nine months? Who's the one who had to go through a nearly twenty-hour labor? I don't think so… At least not anytime soon."

While that made the others laugh, Sakura offered her a sympathetic smile. "I bet you probably still have nightmares of going into the hospital."

"You have no idea," Akara said, cringing at the thought. "Everytime we go back for one of her doctor appointments, even the smell of the place brings back ghost pains."

"My friend Misaki says the same." Sakura said, a twinkle in her eye.

"And I'm sorry for my bad memory, but she has two kids right?" Akara asked.

"Yeah, but not on purpose. She just happens to be the most fertile woman on the planet," Sakura said, then she grinned. "Oh and tequila exists. She likes that too."

That made everyone else laugh, and Akara waved a hand. "Oh yeah that's right. I remember you saying that."

Sakura's focus switched over to baby Kazumi, who was standing up and walking clumsily over to where Shadow was laying. She could see Shinji reaching over to stop his daughter. "It's okay. Shadow and Tank are both well-rehearsed with young children."

"It's the demon cat you need to worry about." Shikamaru added, smirking at how Sakura sent a glare his way.

"She is not a demon." Sakura said, although she joined in everyone else's laughter. As the others attention went to baby Kazumi and Shadow, Sakura rested her hand on Shikamaru's, and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

Smiling at her affection, Shikamaru turned his hand over to hold hers. "What was that for?"

"I have had a really great time the last few days with your family that's all, and it's our first Christmas together and I'm just really happy." Sakura replied honestly, laughing a little when Shikamaru's arm wrapped around her.

"Me too. And I'm happy that we're spending our Christmas together," Shikamaru said, before he kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sakura replied, kissing him again, before their attention got to Kazumi's cute giggles could be heard from where she was on the floor by Shadow. The dog was laying still next to her, and being well-behaved. _He's really starting to_ _get comfortable with her too. He's always been good with kids though. I'm definitely a proud dog mom over here._

 **The next morning, December 25th**

"This has been a nice Christmas morning." Yoshino said, having set down freshly topped off coffee for her husband and Sakura.

"Thank you and I couldn't agree more," Sakura said, taking a sip of her coffee. "I really enjoyed breakfast this morning too."

"It was all the whip cream on your waffle that you really enjoyed." Shikamaru replied, smirking when Sakura laughed.

Picking up Baby, Sakura scratched her behind the ears, as her laughter settled. "I can't disagree with that."

"So," Yoshino started, as she down next to her husband on the other couch. "Did you two decide on if you were going to exchange presents this year?"

At Sakura being distracted by looking at the window now, Shikamaru nodded in his mother's direction. "We decided to wait until later tonight after the party at Sakura's parents house."

Meanwhile, Sakura was leaning closer in the direction of the windows and frowning. "That's unfortunate."

"What? Is that not what we're doing?" Shikamaru countered, raising an eyebrow.

"No- I mean yes. That's the plan," Sakura replied, her eyes sliding back over to Shikamaru, then his parents. "Half of his present is at my parents house, and it just makes sense to do it all over there."

Shikamaru's eyebrow rose again at her eyes going back to the windows. "Why do you keep looking outside?"

"Because," Sakura said, frowning at the sight. "Those look like snow clouds."

"Well, the temperature certainly is low enough." Shikaku said, as they all looked out the window. "It's forecasted that it could snow tonight or tomorrow."

"I'm just hoping it will hold off until we are done traveling tomorrow," Sakura said, petting Shadow then Tank when he came over for attention too. "I don't like traveling in the snow with my furbabies."

"It is too bad we don't have that train now." Shikamaru said, already imagining just how cold it will be once they start traveling.

Shikaku and Yoshino shared a look, and Yoshino raised an eyebrow. "What train are you talking about? We don't have any trains in this region."

"Sakura mentioned there are plans to start building a railroad from here to central Land of Rivers." Shikamaru explained.

"It hasn't been officially announced yet," Sakura added, waving a hand. "I went along with Tsunade to that summit that was for the Kages and minor country leaders a few months ago, and they were finalizing plans for it. They are hoping to break ground after the new year starts."

"It's too bad we won't have the luxury of traveling in a warm train this time," Shikamaru said, a smile grew on his face, as he met Sakura's eyes. "It's something to look forward too though.

"That's so cute, isn't it Shikaku?" Yoshino asked husband, chuckling at her husband's smirk that appeared. She noticed the curious eyes of Shikamaru and Sakura on them now, and she waved them off. "You two talking about the future together-"

"Mom." Shikamaru interrupted, his cheeks flushing a little red at the spotlight on them.

Sakura, however, just shrugged and met Shikamaru's eyes. "It's not that big of a deal Shikamaru."

"They are making it a big deal-"

"It's okay," Sakura interrupted him, laughing lightly. "We are just comfortable talking about things that could be in our future. We've only been dating for five months, but I don't think it's that weird that we are already talking about that… Unless it is weird. In that case, I think it is safe to say that Shikamaru and I obviously don't know how to relationship properly, but it's fine."

That finally brought a smirk back to Shikamaru's face. "It's fine."

 **That afternoon, Sakura's parents house in the Land of Rivers**

Laying on the living room floor, Sakura reached under the couch to try to coax Baby out after having gotten scared by all the dogs.

"Everyone will be here for dinner soon, and we'll be eating in an hour. You all need to be ready." Midori, Sakura's mother, said from where she was taking the ham out of the oven.

"We know that," Sakura said, fighting the urge to groan at her mother's nagging. "You keep reminding us every ten minutes."

While that made Kankuro laugh, her mother glared at her. "Sakura, watch your tone."

"Sorry for being a smart ass," Sakura replied, unable to help but smirk. "But I can't help it. It's in the genes."

"Sakura!" Her mother exclaimed, as that made all of her siblings and Shikamaru laugh.

Smirking at her successfully annoying her mother, Sakura's leaned over to Shikamaru. "Do you want to go outside?"

"Sure," Shikamaru said, motioning to the fireplace. "I've just now managed to fully defrost from our trip over here."

"You will need to bundle up more then," Sakura said, pulling on her jacket over her sweater. After making sure the dogs had their collars on, she glanced to her eldest brother and Amaya. "Can we bring Hazel out with us?"

"Sure," Sora said, already able to tell that his chocolate Labrador was ready to go out anyways. "She'll relax better once everyone gets here if she gets her energy out now."

"But not too long though!" Amaya exclaimed cheerfully to get their dog excited, as she pet her. "I don't want this precious baby to get too cold."

"Over-protective." Sora mumbled, smirking as that made Amaya roll her eyes and copy his sister's usual childish manner of sticking out her tongue at him.

"Oh and don't worry about Callie," Sakura's mother said to stop her daughter from looking around. "Callie is staying inside the house with me."

"Alright, all big dogs it is then," Sakura said, before she and Shikamaru finally went outside. Once out in the yard, they started in the direction of the pond. Shikamaru's hand found hers, and it made her smile. "I know we just warmed up being inside and all, but I just thought we should take a moment to go outside while we can. Because soon, my already crowded house is going to get over-crowded when all of my extended family shows up."

Shikamaru chuckled, pausing to avoid stepping on one of the dogs paws, as they were all swarming him and Sakura. "At least your parents have a pretty big house. There are plenty of places for us to hide once everyone gets here."

Unable to help but laugh at that, Sakura switched to looping her arm through his. "That's very true. It's a big open house though. So we'd probably have more luck hiding upstairs."

It was quiet between them for a couple of minutes, as they walked alongside the pond. "I think I'd want that."

"Want what?" Sakura asked, an eyebrow raised.

"A big open house," Shikamaru replied, his eyes landing on her. "What about you?"

"Uh, I don't know… I think I could be happy anywhere," Sakura said, laughing at how that made Shikamaru raise an eyebrow. "You're talking to a girl who lives comfortably in a tiny one-bedroom apartment."

"Technically there are two rooms."

"One and a half. The small second room is meant for storage," Sakura said, a twinkle in her eye. "You know, for all my Christmas decorations."

Shikamaru laughed. Having to avoid stepping on any of the dogs feet again. "This is a bit chaotic. Keeping up with your dogs, your parents dogs, and your brother's dog."

"Chaotic? This is the best thing ever," Sakura said, kneeling down briefly to give some attention to the dogs, before she straightened up. "I can only hope that I will have this to look forward to in my future. Surrounded by many, many dogs."

"And only one cat. Please only say one cat," Shikamaru said, rubbing his forehead. "I can't handle another demon."

"Baby is not a demon," Sakura insisted with a laugh. Catching onto the sight of snow falling from above, she groaned. "Oh no, it's starting. We're going to get stuck at my house with my entire family."

"Try to not sound so full of dread. That's not really encouraging for me," Shikamaru replied, smirking as that made Sakura smile again. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, before continuing forward. "Let's go."

 **A couple of hours later**

Sakura and Shikamaru joined the line of Sakura's family waiting to go around and get food for dinner. There was a wide assortment of food that lined the kitchen counters, most of which Sakura's immediate family made, but there was additional sides brought from her relatives as well. Sakura's cousin Kana was right in front of them, and Sakura was giggling with her. "Haru is all over his new girlfriend."

"At least it keeps him away from me." Kana said, rolling her eyes at the sight of her brother and his new girlfriend.

"You should move out ASAP." Sakura suggested, grabbing a plate for herself, then handing one to Shikamaru as well.

"I need to, but I'm lazy," Kana replied, starting to get some food on her plate. "My parents house is right next to the hospital, and it gives me quick access to work."

"You work at the hospital?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, I started my training last year," Kana said, a smirk on her face, as she nudged Sakura's side. "Not all of us can be the best doctor in the world at fourteen years old."

Sakura grinned. "I started my medial training when I was twelve—almost thirteen—actually."

Kana rolled her eyes. "That doesn't make me feel any better, Mrs. Overachiever."

Shikamaru laughed, as Sakura grinned. They walked around another counter to get to more of the food. "You've been saying that you have a big family for months, but seeing them all together in one place makes it even more real."

"I know, but I don't know how much of this I will be able to handle," Sakura said, as they went to the other side of the counter to get to the other dishes. "All of the grandchildren eat in the sunroom, and the "adults" eat in the dining room. Then great-grandchildren that are old enough to eat by themselves sit at the kitchen table. There's only four of those and the rest are babies. This system of not actually eating all together started once me, my siblings and my cousins got to the age of annoying our parents enough to make them not want to eat with us."

Shikamaru chuckled at how happy Sakura seemed at that fact. His eyes swept over to where she had gotten briefly distracted by passing the kitchen table. When she came back beside him, he smiled. "You make a big deal about being surrounded by your family, but you seem to be pretty happy. Especially around all the dogs and the little kids here."

Trying to hold a serious face, Sakura finally grinned. "You're right, I'm kind of in heaven here," she said, then she motioned in the direction of the dining room. "It's all the "adults" I'm worried about."

"I know this is a foreign concept to you, despite the fact that you consume alcohol almost every day, but we're adults too." Shikamaru pointed out.

"That's true, but we're not the kind of adults that harass me about when I'm getting married and having children," Sakura said, motioning to the dining room. "That's the big difference."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Fair enough I guess… You're pretty strange, you know?"

"But you love me." Sakura said with a grin.

"That I do," Shikamaru said, filling up their drinks, before motioning to the sunroom. "To the kids table we go."

 **Later that evening**

The last of her extended family finally left, and Sakura took the opportunity to go upstairs and change into pajamas. Her family was planning on watching Christmas movies in a few minutes, and she was making sure she would be extra comfortable for it.

Her bedroom door opened, and in came Shikamaru with Baby in his arms. He set her down on the bed. "Don't say I didn't do anything for this demon cat. Baby was feeling a little corned with Sachi running around in the living room, and I saved her."

"I'm sure she appreciates it," Sakura said, laughing as she picked Baby up to pet her. "Sachi loves animals, but she really only has the temperament to play with the big dogs right now. She overly loves on the cats, and doesn't realize they don't like all the hugs."

"That must be why your parents cats go hide up on top of the refrigerator." Shikamaru said, walking over to the window to look out at the snow.

"Yeah, they are trained by now," Sakura said, setting Baby down, before walking over to join Shikamaru by the window. "The snow is picking up."

"That it is," Shikamaru agreed, smirking at the sight of the many Christmas lights outside the house. "Your parents certainly have a lot of Christmas lights. I thought my mom was extreme with it, but this is… something else."

"Nobody is more extra about the holidays than my family," Sakura laughed, then she clapped her hands together. "Can I give you your present now?"

Shikamaru sat down on her bed. "Oh yeah, I knew we were forgetting something."

Sakura grabbed a wrapped box and held it out to him, but she held onto it once he had his hands on it. "If this is stupid, then I'm sorry ahead of time."

"Sa-ku-ra." Shikamaru's sing-song voice was followed with a smirk on his face.

Sighing, Sakura let the present go. "Okay, go ahead."

Taking off the bow and wrapping paper, Shikamaru smiled as he was greeted with a nice dark green jacket for Winter. "Wow,."

"It's to replace the one that I took from you." Sakura said, motioning to where said jacket was hanging half out of her suitcase.

"And will you be taking this one too?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura smiled and shrugged. "I mean I thought I'd let you use it for a month or two first."

Shikamaru chuckled, and picked up the jacket to find a puzzle box underneath it. "A puzzle."

"I know you like puzzles, and I do to," Sakura said, motioning between the two of them. "Maybe we can do this one together."

"I would like that," Shikamaru said, leaning over to kiss her. When their kiss broke, he picked up the puzzle box to study the picture. "It's two thousand pieces."

Sakura laughed. "I know. I thought if I got a puzzle with fewer pieces we would finish it too quickly. It is us after all."

"You're right about that," Shikamaru said, smiling at her after checking out the puzzle a moment longer. "I love both of them. Thank you."

"Good, I'm glad." Sakura smiled big.

Leaning over, Shikamaru grabbed a bag by the bed, and set it down on the bed in front of her. "Your turn."

After pulling the tissue paper out, Sakura squealed happily and pulled out a giant three-pound bag of sour gummy worms. "This is absolutely the best thing I've ever seen in my entire life! Where did you find it?"

Shikamaru chuckled. "I was on a mission with my team early last week, and I came across it in a small candy shop. It had your name written all over it."

"You have to eat some of them too, or else I might die from sugar overdose." Sakura said, grinning as she already opened the bag to give a little taste test to the sugary sour gummy worms.

"We can eat some while we work on my puzzle." Shikamaru suggested, smiling happily at how Sakura seemed to really enjoy that idea.

"This is literally probably the best present you could have ever given me, and I don't know how you're going to top this next year," Sakura said, laughing as she had one last gummy worm before closing the bag. "Thank you."

"That's not all." Shikamaru said, motioning back to the bag.

"This huge bag of gummy worms took up the whole bag Shikamaru. There is not much room for-" Sakura stopped, as she saw rather flat red velvet box wrapped in white ribbon at the bottom of the bag. She picked it up, and glanced at Shikamaru for a moment. Pulling the ribbon off, she opened the box to find a shiny silver bracelet. Its center charm was a lime green peridot stone. _My birthstone._ There were two other charms on the bracelet. One was a cat and the other was a dog. Two diamond-covered charms surrounded the other charms on each side. Her smile returned to her face, as she met Shikamaru's eyes. "Shikamaru."

Shikamaru smiled as he took it out, and put it on for her. "I've never been to a jewelry store before. It is not familiar territory for me, and I spent quite a while in there. But I hope I did okay."

Sakura's eyes finally tore away from the bracelet, and her smile grew. "It's perfect. I love it."

"I actually saw a charm that looked like a margarita, and I was close to getting it for you. You know, since it symbolizes you so well," Shikamaru joked, a smirk now on his face. "Maybe next time."

Sakura laughed for a moment, then she leaned over and kissed him. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Shikamaru said, then he hissed her.

"Hey, Sachi is ready to start this movie without you two!" Kankuro's voice carried up the stairs, breaking them apart.

Sakura smiled, and Shikamaru chuckled and stood up. "I guess we can't make her wait much longer. I'm going to change into some sweatpants though, so give me a second."

"Okay." Sakura agreed, moving over to her window to look out at the snow falling. Glancing down at her bracelet, her smile widened almost to the point of hurting. _This has been an amazing Christmas._

* * *

 **A/N: I love writing holiday chapters! What do you want to see come of Sakura and Shikamaru's relationship in the new year? What was your favorite scene?**

 **Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)**


	18. The End of the Year

_Review:_

" _Hey, Sachi is ready to start this movie without you two!" Kankuro's voice carried up the stairs, breaking them apart._

 _Sakura smiled, and Shikamaru chuckled and stood up. "I guess we can't make her wait much longer. I'm going to change into some sweatpants though, so give me a second."_

" _Okay." Sakura agreed, moving over to her window to look out at the snow falling. Glancing down at her bracelet, her smile widened almost to the point of hurting. This has been an amazing Christmas._

* * *

 **A couple of days later, and it's the 27th of December**

"I feel like a marshmallow with how many layers I have on." Sakura said, zipping up her jacket.

Shikamaru chuckled and un-tucked her bracelet that had gotten awkwardly caught on the cuff of her jacket sleeve. "Well, at least we will be warm marshmallows."

Sakura laughed as they got the dogs ready to go outside as well. However, she raised an eyebrow when her mom caught the little Yorkie Callie. "She can go outside with us, mom."

"It's too cold for her." Her mother disagreed, as she snuggled her little Yorkie to her chest.

"Callie wants to have fun in the snow too," Sakura said, motioning to the tiny dog. "She has that ridiculous dog sweater on too. She'll be fine to go out."

"I don' think so. She gets cold easily with how tiny she is," her mom replied, before she grew a scowl on her face. "Sakura, you need to be wearing a hat. It is way too cold-"

"It's right here," Sakura interrupted, holding up the beanie she planned on wearing, and she put it on as she and Shikamaru finally went out on the back porch. As soon as the door closed, she sighed and put the hat on. "My mom is so overprotective."

"Join the club." Shikamaru shot back, chuckling.

Sakura put her hat on, then pointed in the direction she wanted to go. "Let's go… I think the dogs are already having trouble walking in this snow, and it's not even that deep yet."

"They are the only ones," Shikamaru said, having to use a bit more effort to keep making solid footsteps in the snow. "I'm having to use way too much effort to make sure I don't slip and die."

"It's not that bad- ah!" Sakura exclaimed, as her feet slipped right out from under her, and she landed on the snow. With a little wind knocked out of her, Sakura took a deep breath. "Ow."

"Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked, trying not to laugh at how dramatic it was when she sprawled out on the snow.

"No," Sakura groaned, as she had to push back on the dogs chests, as they immediately came to try and lick her face. "The snow is not as soft as it looks."

Shikamaru chuckled and helped her up. Knocking some of the snow off of her, before putting her hood back up over her beanie hat. "Maybe we should go back inside soon. I think it's getting more dangerous out here."

"To be fair, I could fall on plain grass. Or fall down the stairs. Or fall over one of the many animals in my parents house. I can find danger anywhere."

"Fair enough," Shikamaru chuckled, as they started walking again. As they went, snow started to lightly fall from the sky again. "It's been snowing a lot more than I expected it too."

"Honestly, it's getting to the point where I'm concerned if we are even going to get to go home for the New Years festival," Sakura said, pulling her scarf closer around her when a gust of wind went by them. "If it doesn't stop snowing and the snow doesn't melt, we won't be able to travel back. It would not only be dangerous, but it'd be nearly impossible for my furbabies."

"As much as they obviously love the snow, you're right. They'd get tired of it," Shikamaru said, smirking at the sight of Shadow and Tank rolling around in the snow. "As fun as this snow has been, I would like to go home eventually."

"I know, I really want to go to the New Years festival-" Sakura broke off when she slipped and fell again into the snow. "You've got to be kidding me."

Shikamaru laughed, as he knelt down next to her. "That's the second time in less than a few minutes. We should go back inside."

"Give me a second. I'm just going to lay here for a bit," Sakura replied, as she brought a hand to her head. "Ow."

 **Late that afternoon**

Shikamaru settled down on the swing on the porch. Most of the guys of Sakura's family were out in the freshly shoveled back yard throwing a ball around. The last couple of days had been spent with them all inside, as it had snowed almost all day each day. A few of them remained on the porch in an effort to stay out of the wind.

"I don't know how they can stay out in the snow for that long," Sai said, having been watching the others out in the snow as well. "We shoveled quite a bit out of the way, but there is still enough on the ground to freeze your feet if you stand in it too long."

"Not only that, but it's five degrees below freezing," Neji added, shaking his head. "With the wind it is even colder."

"At least the sun is out today. We haven't seen it in a few days," Sakura's father, Akio, said, his eyes moving to Gaara to change the subject. "So Gaara, when do you have to leave?"

"I need to go back to Suna by the 29th," Gaara said, resting back on the porch swing. "Our New Years festival will be happening on schedule, as we don't have to worry about snow in the Sand Village.

"Good luck with traveling out of the Land of Rivers." Sai chuckled.

"There's probably no way you would be able to get out of here any sooner than that," Neji said, motioning out to the yard where the others were. "The only reason they can be out in the snow is because we shoveled almost a foot of snow out of the way first."

"If anything, once you hit the desert the snow will be gone, and you'll have no trouble getting back," Shikamaru pointed out, although looking out in the snow that they spent most of the morning clearing out from the backyard. "However, it's really getting from here to the desert that might be the downfall. Especially if the temperature doesn't get above freezing over the next few days."

Gaara sighed. "That is true… Regardless, I'm going to have to brave the snow and ice even if it doesn't melt at all. I can't leave any later than the 29th, unfortunately."

"So," Sakura's dad said after their attention had been briefly grabbed by the others in the yard. "When are the rest of you planning on leaving?"

"That has been undecided yet," Neji replied, glancing at the windows where he could see Tenten inside. She was sitting on one of the bar stools, and caught his eyes. She gave him a small wave and smile. "It's whenever Tenten wants to leave, I guess."

"Same here," Sai agreed, motioning back in the house. "Ino loves being over here, and she just got here yesterday. So we could end up staying through New Years. However, I think she also wants to go to the New Years Festival back at the village. She likes dressing up, so I'm sure she won't want to miss it."

Shikamaru could feel the eyes of the others finally land on him, and he shrugged. "Sakura and I would like to be back in time to go to the festival, but it's not going to be the end of the world if we can't go… Of course, the plan could be for us to stay here one day, then the next morning I wake up to a note from Sakura who has changed plans already."

That made the others start to laugh, and Shikamaru smirked as he looked inside the house through the windows. Sakura's pink hair catching his eye right away, and his smirk turned to a smile.

 **Inside the house**

"I can't believe Hiro is turning one next week." Amaya said, having been holding Hiro, who had just woke up from his nap a few minutes ago, and was still a little drowsy.

"I know," Misaki said, smiling at her cute son. "I swore off having any more kids after how tough my pregnancy with Hiro was, but it's little moments here and there that make me re-consider."

"That and tequila exists still. So you can't make any actual promises." Sakura added, laughing along with the others.

"Amaya," Sakura's mother, Midori, started with a smile. "Have you and Sora thought any on taking that next step and getting married? You've been dating for so long."

"I don't know..." Amaya trailed off, a small smile appearing on her face. "We love each other and want to spend the rest of our lives together. We're just so busy, and neither of us felt pressured to go through the whole marriage and babies things. We'll get there when we get there. Right now we love our life with our jobs and our dog of course."

As everyone's eyes landed on Temari, she shrugged. "Daymon and I are happy the way we are. I am not really sure about the whole marriage and children things. I wouldn't even get a pet at this point in my life, because I can barely keep a plant alive."

Everyone laughed at that, and Sakura was pouring a glass of wine for herself. "I don't know. I think about having kids, but it's usually when I'm on my period. Then it goes away quickly after."

"That I can agree to." Tenten agreed, holding out her glass for some wine too.

"Don't get too excited mom," Sakura started after taking a sip of wine. "But seriously, I actually do think about it every once in a while. Marriage and babies and all of that adult stuff."

Laughing at how Sakura phrased that, Temari settled for raising an eyebrow. "Haven't you and Shikamaru only been dating for five months?"

"I don't actually want a kid right this very second or anything like that. I am nowhere near ready to take care of an actual human child," Sakura said, grinning as her eyes went to Misaki. "I've watched you do it for almost four years with Sachi, and I know I couldn't do it."

"I feel like I might be able to handle it, but I just don't like the idea of stretch marks or all the weight gain." Ino said, her eyes on Hiro, who was being extra cute and giggling at her.

Midori chuckled at how Ino seemed pretty comfortable around Hiro. "As a mother, I can say that all that stuff is worth it once you actually have the baby."

"If anything, you can adopt too," Temari said, smiling in her mother's direction. "I can speak from experience saying that was a really great thing in my life."

"Mine too." Midori replied with a warm smile.

Footsteps on the stairs got their attention, before Sachi appeared at the bottom of them. The young girl yawning and going straight to her mother.

Misaki scooped Sachi up to sit on her lap. "Did you have a good nap sweety? You were down almost a whole hour later than usual."

Sachi blinked a few times, kind of in a post-nap daze. "Where's daddy?"

"He's outside," Misaki said, tucking Sachi's hair behind her ear. "You can go out in a little while if you want, but not right now. It's too cold. How about we go snuggle up by the fire?"

"Yeah." Sachi said, accepting her mom's arms wrapping around her.

"How about I boil some water for tea and we can put on a movie?" Sakura's mom suggested, however, she smiled at Sakura. "Or we can take Sakura's lead and start drinking wine."

Sakura smirked at how she motioned to her wine glass. "I have great ideas."

 **An hour later**

After fully snuggling up under her covers in her bed, Sakura opened her journal and grabbed a pen. All the dogs, apart from her parents dog, Callie, and her brother's dog, Hazel. It was the perfect setting to write her thoughts out in her journal.

 _Christmas went by quickly, and we are approaching the new year faster than I realized. The end of the year holidays always make me so happy, but they go by so quickly. This year was a lot different than my usual Christmas activities. I spent quite a lot of time with Shikamaru's extended family, and he got to spend some time with mine. I got to meet some of his mom's side of the family that I hadn't met before. Even though it wasn't my usual tradition of spending the last two weeks of the year at my parents house, I enjoyed myself. I could picture myself enjoying this new plan for Christmas from now on._

The sound of footsteps outside her room got her attention. She paused in her writing to look at the door, then Shikamaru walked in. A smirk growing on his face.

"I noticed some of the dogs and all the cats were missing."

Sakura glanced behind herself to where Baby was on the pillows, and her parents two cats were on the cat tower in her room. "They just followed me up here."

"Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't you shaking the bag of cat treats to get them to come up here." Shikamaru said, smirking as he motioned to the bag of cat treats on Sakura's bedside table. While that made Sakura laugh, he chuckled a little himself, as he looked out the window to see snow falling again.

"I don't know how you guys stayed outside for so long," Sakura said, a shiver running down her spine at the thought of how cold it was outside. "I lasted maybe fifteen minutes out there."

Grabbing a sweater to switch out for the long sleeve he was currently wearing, Shikamaru shrugged. "It wasn't too bad up on the porch. The house blocked some of the wind."

"I'll take your word for it." Sakura said, chuckling as she put her bookmark in her journal.

"What have you been up to?"

Taking a moment to yawn, Sakura pet her parents golden retriever, Charley, when that got his attention. "We started watching a movie downstairs, but I came up here about half an hour ago to lay down for a bit. It's just so cold, and I felt like I could get some writing in while up here."

Slipping on the sweater, Shikamaru coaxed the dogs to move out of the way to give him enough room to get on the bed beside her. "Did you get a lot of writing done?"

"A little," Sakura said with a shrug. "I was reflecting on our Christmas. I haven't got to write in here since before the Christmas party at your mom's parents house."

Shikamaru settled back on the pillows. "I think that it's been a great Christmas."

"It really has been," Sakura agreed, smiling as she reflected on the last thing she wrote. "I could see myself doing this every year."

That brought a big smile to Shikamaru's face, as he lifted an arm for her to come closer to him. "Me too."

Sakura set her journal on her bedside table, and laid down next to Shikamaru. She smiled as she rested her head on his chest, and he wrapped his arm around her. After feeling him kiss the top of her head, her smile widened so much it almost hurt. _This is amazing. Sitting all warm and cozy, and watching the snow falling with the man I love. I couldn't be happier._

 **The next day, December 28th**

"Yay, I'm so excited to go out and play!" Sachi exclaimed, as soon as they were out on the back porch.

"Sachi, be careful going down the stairs!" Sakura exclaimed, managing to get her almost-four-year-old goddaughter to slow down, as she went down the steps.

Shikamaru was the last to come out on the porch, and he closed the door and smirked in Sakura's direction. "You need to take your own advice. You have fallen in the snow at least six times in the past few days, and have the bruises in some places to show for it."

"It wasn't six times." Sakura disagreed, although she was careful getting down the stairs.

"You're right, it was probably seven or eight," Shikamaru said, a growing smirk on his face. "My mistake."

Sakura laughed along with Shikamaru, as Shikamaru joined out in the yard. "Sachi, what do you want to do first?"

"Let's build a snowman!" Sachi exclaimed cheerfully.

"I think we can manage that," Sakura said, motioning around them to all the snow that still remained on the ground. "I don't think we'll be running out of snow."

As they got to work on parts of the snowman, Shikamaru was busy looking up at the sky. "There aren't many clouds in the sky. The weather people were talking about potential snow again."

"I doubt it," Sakura said, having to take a break from rolling the middle section of the snowball to reach over and help Sachi's part stay together a bit. "I don't think we'll see snow again until after New Years. At least that's my hope."

"Is uncle Gaara leaving today?"

Sachi's question got Sakura's attention, and she smiled. "As long as the snow keeps on melting this afternoon, then he'll be heading home."

That made Sachi frown, as she finally finished up with the head of the snowman. "Why can't he stay longer?"

"Because he has to go home to get ready for the Sand Village New Years Festival." Sakura replied, her eyes going back to the porch when she heard barks, and Shadow and Tank were bolting off the porch in their direction.

"Sorry!" Midori, Sakura's mother, called over to them. "They were really upset when you went outside without them!"

"It's alright!" Sakura called back, before happily greeting Shadow and Tank, while also trying to protect the midsection of the snowman from being destroyed by her dogs.

After Sachi got distracted by the dogs, Shikamaru paused in rolling out the base of the snowman. "I thought Gaara was going home tomorrow."

"That was when we thought we would be getting more snow today, but it quit yesterday evening. And with the snow popping out today, the snow should melt a bit." Sakura explained, finishing up the mid-section of the snowman.

"What about us?" Shikamaru asked, copying her in finishing up the snowman's base, before helping her move the mid-section on top of his. "Are we still going to aim for the 30th?"

"That's the plan. That way we can make sure we have everything to wear with our kimonos that we are going to dress up in-"

"I'm sorry, what?" Shikamaru interrupted her, an eyebrow raised.

"You know," Sakura said, an eyebrow raised at his question. "At every New Years Festival people dress up in kimonos."

Shikamaru deadpanned. "I don't think so."

"Please, it'll be so much fun. It's only one time a year-"

"That is not at all true, there has been many times that I end up dressed up because of you saying only this one time," Shikamaru interrupted her, but he sighed and smirked at the sparkle in her eye. "We'll see… Anyway, even if we don't make it to the Leaf for New Years, I wouldn't really mind it. It's been nice staying here for the past few days."

"I wouldn't mind staying either, but I do enjoy the festival each year," Sakura said, chuckling. "It's probably one of the best festivals the Leaf has. Apart from the Nara Festival though."

Shikamaru smirked again. "Is that only because we got to plan the festival for that?"

"Pretty much," Sakura replied, laughing along with Shikamaru, then she patted her snowman piece. Her eyes going to her goddaughter. "Alright Sachi, let's get this snowman together."

 **A few days later, New Years Eve**

Avoiding another slush puddle mixture of semi-melted snow and water, Sakura whistled for the dogs to follow her up on the Nara's porch. She knocked on the door, and had to shuffle Baby around in the pouch. Her eyes going back to the front yard. It snowed much less in the Leaf than it did in the Land of Rivers, and most of the snow here had melted away.

The door opening caught her attention, and Yoshino smiled from inside. "Oh you look so pretty Sakura."

"Thank you. It was a present from my grandmother on my mom's side," Sakura said, pulling at the sleeves of her kimono a bit. "And thank you for letting me bring the furbabies over now. Once the fireworks get going, they like to get hidden and it'll be good that they are here early."

"Of course," Yoshino said, catching sight of the charm bracelet on Sakura's wrist. "That is very pretty."

Sakura smiled, as she brought her hand to the bracelet. "I've hardly taken it off since Shikamaru gave it to me. Only to shower and that's it. I love it."

Shikamaru finally appeared from the hall his bedroom was off of, and both his parents had raised their eyebrows in his direction. Like Sakura, he was also dressed in a kimono that he was busy fidgeting in. Clearly not at all thrilled to be wearing it.

"Son, what are you wearing?" Shikaku asked, trying to hold back on laughing.

"Shikaku!" Yoshino exclaimed, putting a smile on her face in her son's direction. "I think you look festive."

Shikamaru sighed when that made Sakura chuckle, and he pulled at the sleeves on the kimono. "I didn't plan on wearing this, but Sakura asked me to."

"And I think you look very nice." Sakura said, smiling as she kissed his cheek.

"Aw, that's so sweet," Yoshino said, grabbing her camera. "Let me get some pictures of the two of you."

That immediately had Shikamaru shaking his head. "Can we not have photographic evidence of this?"

"Shikamaru, it's just for a few pictures- Do not sigh at me!" Yoshino exclaimed, her hand propped on her hip.

Sakura smiled at how Shikamaru had taken a step away from his mom. Stepping closer to him, she leaned over to nuzzle her nose up to his cheek. "Just one picture."

Yoshino could tell right away that her son was losing the fight on this one, as a smile edged on his face in Sakura's direction. Taking a few photos, she smiled as it appeared she got them smiling at each other. "That's so adorable… You two have a great time, and enjoy the festival- Oh and stay warm!"

Sakura paused once she and Shikamaru were at the front door. "Do you two want to go out with us? We're probably going to walk around for a bit, before we play some games or get some food."

"Thank you for the offer Sakura," Shikaku said, his eyes focused on his wife. "But we're probably going to wait another half hour or so before we go out."

"I haven't yet prepared myself to go out in the cold yet." Yoshino added, with a smile.

"I know what you mean. I have plenty of layers on under this kimono… I guess we'll be seeing you guys around in a little while," Sakura said, before she and Shikamaru finally left the house. As soon as they were down the porch steps, she looped her arm through his. "I want dessert as soon as possible."

"What happened to walking around first?"

"We can do that," Sakura said, smiling as they walked through the Nara district. "After I have something full of sugar."

Shikamaru smirked. "Alright."

 **A couple of hours later**

Grabbing their hot chocolates, Sakura took a sip at the sweet drink. "It's actually not too bad out here. I thought it would be colder with it being so close to midnight."

"Of course, compared to the snowy weather we were stuck in at your parents house, this is much better." Shikamaru said, his eyes sliding over to his other side at the sound of a familiar laugh.

"Hey you two," Ino greeted, as she and Sai walked over. "It's freezing out here."

At the sight of Sai, Sakura laughed. "Nice kimono Sai."

"Shut up." Sai shot back, glaring.

Sakura smirked at his obvious irritation. "I was complimenting you."

"You were being sarcastic." Sai deadpanned.

"I can't with you two," Ino said, waving her hand between them to stop their glares. "Every time you two see each other, it's one thing after the other."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura slapped a hand to Sai's shoulder. "We're best friends actually, right Sai?"

Sai smirked. "I guess so."

"Anyway, we're going to meet up with some of the others to go watch the fireworks," Ino said, her eyes going from Sakura to Shikamaru. "Do you two want to come with us?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond, but Shikamaru beat her to it. "We already have plans to watch the fireworks somewhere."

"We do?" Sakura asked, an eyebrow raised. But, at Shikamaru's nod, she shrugged and nodded in Sai and Ino's direction. "Yeah, we have plans that only one of us knows about apparently."

Shikamaru smirked at, and poked Sakura's side to make her jump. "We'll be seeing you guys around though."

"Okay, sounds good." Ino said, before she and Sai started walking off.

Waiting until they were out of earshot, Sakura turned to Shikamaru, a smile on her face. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" Shikamaru countered, smirking as they kissed.

After a moment, their kiss broke, but Sakura stayed close. Enjoying the warmth that Shikamaru gave off. "Where are we going exactly?"

"Take a guess-"

"Hey you two," Yoshino's voice interrupted Shikamaru, as she and her husband walked over. "Have you been having fun?"

"Yes, lot's of fun," Sakura replied, smiling back at Shikamaru. "I'm pretty sure the highlight—at least for me—was tasting almost every dessert here."

"I would have to concur," Shikamaru added, as he and Sakura laughed. "What are you two up to?"

Yoshino looped her arm through her husband's. "We were actually about to go back to the house and watch the fireworks from the front porch."

"Yeah, we're going to grab some hot chocolate before we go back, and we'll probably start a fire in the fireplace as soon as we get back home." Shikaku added.

"Oh that'll be nice," Sakura said, nudging Shikamaru's side. "Shikamaru won't tell me where we are watching the fireworks. It's supposed to be a surprise."

"You two have fun and stay warm. We'll see you later." Yoshino said, before she and her husband started off down the street.

As soon as they were alone, Sakura turned right back to Shikamaru. "Seriously, where are we going?"

"Let me show you." Shikamaru replied, taking her hand in his.

 **A half-hour later**

Sakura smiled as Shikamaru wrapped a blanket around the both of them. They were sitting out on a blanket at Shikamaru's spot. There were candles lit around them and he had brought a blanket to keep them extra warm. "This is actually perfect."

"I planned ahead," Shikamaru said, motioning up to the sky. "We're lucky the sun was out for most of the day, or else we'd be sitting on wet grass."

Sakura rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Looking back on this year… It's hard to pick what was my favorite moment."

"This whole year was amazing. This time last year, I had no idea what great things were coming my way… Now that I say that, I know it sounds cheesy-"

"No," Sakura interrupted, smiling as she kissed him. "I feel the same way. I hope next year is as great as this one has been."

"Me too," Shikamaru agreed, his eyes glancing down to his watch. "It's almost midnight."

"Yay fireworks," Sakura said, her eyes following the hand on his watch until it finally turned to midnight. Turning back to Shikamaru, she kissed him again, and when their kiss broke she chuckled. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year," Shikamaru replied, kissing her again, before pulling her a little closer. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sakura said, resting her head on Shikamaru's, as the fireworks show started. _I can't wait to see_ _what's to come in the next year._

* * *

 **A/N: What do you think we'll see from Sakura and Shikamaru in the New Year?**

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